Whatever happened to the Mars mission?

[Englander]

I only ask as an excuse to show this cartoon,really..

[lapfog_1]

1. It was never a "real" mission

but rather a stunt by Bushco to defund many other missions
so that NASA could "concentrate" on the manned space missions.
Mostly Bushco wanted to end funding of NASA's MTPE and other
science related missions. MTPE (Mission to Planet Earth) is
(was) the primary way the world gathered data on Global Warming
and other climate related matters.

[Emmanuel Goldstein]

2. Nevertheless, it's a legitimate question.

The Bush administration has no interest in returning to the moon or exploring mars per se; they need a heavy-lift vehicle like the Saturn V if they're ever going to get serious about missile defense. There are political advantages to using the civilian space program to develop such a vehicle off the Pentagon's books, especially now that the shuttle program is all but over and the International Space Station is an orbiting shambles.

[RivetJoint]

3. NASA says the two

vehicles nay go on exlporing for another 6 months. Incredible! Great job NASA!

[commander bunnypants]

4. up in cocaine smoke

DDQM