# NASA sending another Mars rover **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 10, 2020, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-sending-another-mars-rover/914935 "2020-07-10T11:57:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2020, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-sending-another-mars-rover/914935/21 "2020-07-11T12:30:00Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > So that’s about 80 hospitals that could be built for the money it will cost to satisfy some grownup little boys jerking off to their space ship fantasies. (correct me if my math is wrong.) I’ve never understood this attitude. Not every penny of tax payers money can and should be spent on healthcare. And healthcare is one of the chief beneficiaries of scientific progress. Science is the reason we understand how to build hospitals, all the equipment inside them, all the energy used to power them, and the knowledge of medicine itself. We wouldn’t have electricity if it wasn’t for some guy playing around with a kite, or ancients toying with chemicals in a clay pot. ALL major economic progress has been built off the back of scientific advancements and so has the long human lifespan. And all of it derived from blue sky science - i.e. curiosity-driven science with no clear end goal. Paper, clay, iron, steam, advanced metals, electricity, transistors, the internet. Where do you think these things come from? ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2020, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-sending-another-mars-rover/914935/22 "2020-07-11T16:15:14Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > Where do you think these things come from? Assumes fact not in evidence. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2020, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-sending-another-mars-rover/914935/23 "2020-07-11T18:35:44Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > But “80 hospitals that could be built for the money it will cost to satisfy some grownup little boys jerking off to their space ship fantasies” did not sound to me like a complaint merely that it was tax dollars being spent on the “space ship fantasies” of “grownup little boys”. And if we’re talking about non-tax dollars: “we” collectively spent $25billion on Starbucks coffee, how many hospitals could we get for that? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2020, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-sending-another-mars-rover/914935/24 "2020-07-11T23:00:44Z")
The average cost to build a hospital in the U.S. is about $112 million. And of course, to actually run it costs many millions per year. But this is a stupid argument. There are many, many things tax dollars are spent on. Yet somehow it seems like only space exploration gets this kind of treatment. Well, that and military spending. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-sending-another-mars-rover/914935/25 "2020-07-28T17:44:22Z")
Liftoff planned for Thursday 7:50 am EDT ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2020, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-sending-another-mars-rover/914935/26 "2020-07-29T15:25:51Z")
Still on track for tomorrow. Rocket is on the launch pad ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-sending-another-mars-rover/914935/27 "2020-07-30T11:30:10Z")
They are sending another mission later to bring back Mars samples that this rover collects. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-sending-another-mars-rover/914935/28 "2020-07-30T12:07:46Z")
I am certainly no rocket scientist, but that looked like a very smooth and pretty launch from here. Good job, ULA people! ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-sending-another-mars-rover/914935/29 "2020-07-30T12:10:34Z")
Faster liftoff than normal due to 4 extra solid rocket boosters similar to the shuttle that used 2 solid boosters. I don’t know if these boosters can be reused like they did with the shuttle. Most news did not show it live. You would think they would like to show something positive for a change. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-sending-another-mars-rover/914935/30 "2020-07-30T12:15:07Z")
Story here: [https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/30/world/mars-perseverance-rover-launch-scn/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/30/world/mars-perseverance-rover-launch-scn/index.html) It will be 2031 before another mission returns actual samples to earth, but meanwhile Perseverance has lots of sophisticated instrumentation to look for evidence of early life. The helicopter is a nice touch but it’s mainly for test flight purposes for future missions. > [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Most news did not show it live. You would think they would like to show something positive for a change. I’m sure the landing in February will be shown live, just like Curiosity was. That was nerve-wracking but exciting! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-sending-another-mars-rover/914935/31 "2020-07-30T12:24:39Z")
It’s a bit misleading to say that this mission is planning for sample return by a future mission. That’s like saying that I’ve planned a month-long vacation to Dubai, because I’ve looked up online where the hotel gift shop is. Collecting the samples on the surface is trivially easy; making a rocket that can lift off from Mars, and then making another rocket that can get that rocket there, and getting it onto the surface in working order, is very difficult. It’s possible, and we’ll do it eventually, but when we do eventually get a sample (or even human) return, the credit should all go to the mission that actually did the returning, not to the mission that just said “Well, eventually I guess we’ll be able to do this”. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-sending-another-mars-rover/914935/32 "2020-07-30T13:42:59Z")
Who is saying this mission is going to return the samples? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-sending-another-mars-rover/914935.md?page=1)