You may be asking "Why send robots to Mars when there are so many problems here on Earth we could be spending our money on?"

So a short thread on that.

First answer: Not all assets are equally liquid and it might not be as simple as emptying the Mars Fund and putting it into the Pandemic Fund, or what have you.

Second answer: NASA projects lead to developing new technologies that can and do solve real-life problems.

From cochlear implants to solar panels to firefighting equipment, NASA programs have a profound benefit on our daily lives.

But let's set all that aside and say, for the sake of argument, that we really are dumping perfectly good money into a Mars-shaped hole.

The broader question is: Why should the government ever spend money on anything when there are more crucial things? Why pay for theaters, museums, parks, sports arenas, public radio, and so on when none of those are life-or-death emergencies?

More broadly still: Why should any of us spend time, effort, or money on something that's not the most important thing? Why am I writing novels and not, say, working in an emergency room?

The answer is: Because art, culture, and exploration still have value, even when there are problems in the world. If we waited until all our problems were solved before investing in culture, it would never happen.

It would be folly to think that, if we dissolved NASA and threw it at the problems on Earth, they would all be fixed. Our problems are bigger than that. We would still have COVID, wars, climate change, and so on. But we would also be living a more impoverished existence.

So don't feel guilty about putting a robot on Mars any more than you would feel guilty about spending the day doing art instead of volunteering at a food bank. Focusing every ounce of our resources on the single most important issue is neither possible nor desirable.