Yeah! Yeah! Bravo! I hope this gives the space exploration a needed kick in the pants up the ladder of importance. We should have had manned missions to Mars by now.
and we should be mining in space. And have colonies on space stations if not on other planets!

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Great!...

Nice to see that those billions are going to important stuff instead of things like cancer, the federal deficit, and foreclosure bailouts...

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Knowledge gained by exploration has never been bad so far as I know. Many inventions and processes have come to light by striking out to find a "brave new world".
For instance, some shipwrecked sailors brought an original idea to the world of modern medicine when they were rescued. It seems the island was populated by citrus trees. And when the rescuers found the crew, they had expected all to have died of scurvy (once a scourge of ocean goers). Instead to their surprise the men were relatively healthy. Forever after sailors from their country were referred to as "Limy s", as the Royal British Navy even adopted the practice of making citrus fruit a regular part of the stores on board for a long voyage!

Further investigation and experimentation revealed the vitamin "C" prevented scurvy, which was soon eradicated as a disease in the civilized world.
Who knows what inventions and cures space exploration will bring?!
Besides, it already brought us my favorite drink-Tang!

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I don't know if this is an update or not. Guess I need to be here at 0300 hrs to keep abreast (no pun intended) of saltwn. This story goes on to mention
Liquid water, The stuff of life and Future missions. It is long and for some informative.
But I feel we need to take care of home before spending the billions being spent by NASA. Just in my humble opinion.

NASA Now Looking for Life's Building Blocks on Mars Andrea Thompson
Senior Writer
SPACE.com
38 minutes ago

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander may have found water ice on the red planet, but it still has a lot of work left to do to answer the question that has been on scientists' minds for decades: Has Mars ever been capable of harboring life?

Phoenix scientists announced yesterday that the mission finally confirmed the presence of subsurface water ice in the north polar regions of Mars — first detected by NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter in 2002 — about two months after touching down on the Martian surface on May 25.

The lander is now analyzing the ice to see if it was ever a liquid and if it contains organic materials, the building blocks of life.

The ice, collected from below the surface at the lander's site in the Martian arctic, could have acted like a freezer, protecting any organics that may have formed there.

"We have an environment where organics could be preserved," said mission scientist William Boynton of the University of Arizona.

The detection of organics on Mars would not necessarily mean there is life. It would just mean that carbon and other molecules that make up life as we know it were present.

Video: Looking for Life in All the Right Places
SPECIAL REPORT: Phoenix Mars Lander: Digging for Ice in the Martian Arctic
New Images: Phoenix on Mars!
Original Story: NASA Now Looking for Life's Building Blocks on Mars
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Complete story @ NASA Now Looking for Life's Building Blocks on Mars - Yahoo! News

My issue is not with the idea of discovery, but the idea of priorities...

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The last line in my post above yours. "But I feel we need to take care of home before spending the billions being spent by NASA. Just in my humble opinion."
I think we agree on this one.....

If America wants to explore space then do it right with as many other countries involved. We can't keep spending like our govt. is doing much longer!!!!!!!!

I agree that there needs to be an international, cooperative space exploration effort (for more than just financial reasons) but I do understand why that system isn't in place yet. When much of this was developed, the international will, ability, resources, and trust wasn't where it is today.

It's come a long way and we should advocate perhaps a cooperative effort. The Chinese and the Saudis and so on need something to start spending their money on, and cooperative efforts tend to lead to peace rather than war.

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I just want exclusive rights to bottle and sell Martian Water. I could make a fortune on the west cost alone!...

How dare you take from Ron Paul's home...

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"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd

He can afford to lose some precious bodily fluids...