opinion

Rapid Response: Should we go to Mars?

NASA completed a test flight of a saucer-shaped craft last week in connection with its manned mission to Mars.

So we posed this question to our Rapid Responders: "Do you think a manned Mars mission is worth the expense and risk?"

What they said

Yes, it is worth the expense and risk. Billionaire Elon Musk has raised $1 billion from Google and Fidelity for his Space X to start manned missions, then commercial trips, to Mars within 10 years, after which settlements can be created.

He created PayPal, then Tesla, and soon our homes will all have his batteries and solar collectors and will be off the grid. It is going to happen. Bad news for NASA and PGE.

— Geoffrey James, Salem

It would be wonderful to use the money to feed the poor and clothe the poor as well as allow some exploration to occur. Right now. Our country needs to repair roads and our education model has fallen apart. So many problems to deal with. We need to focus here more: Planet Earth.

— Ann Watters, Salem

Ambivalence. It is very expensive, money that could benefit humans and the environment. But we are also the best when we strive, make leaps and will develop new technology to solve the Mars mission, which could well benefit humans and the environment; and it would be a mental paradigm shift for humanity.

— Anita Blanchard, Salem

Our world will not last forever as we continue to try our best to destroy it. Mars may not be the answer, but you have to start somewhere to figure out how to keep our species going. That way, we can destroy other worlds!

— Tony Weaver, Woodburn

Absolutely not! There are so many other things here on Earth that need funding that it is foolishness to waste public dollars on this project. Let private entrepreneurs do it if it is such a wonderful project.

— Susann Kaltwasser, Salem

With all the needs we have in this country, it is throwing money down a rat hole. The idea of Mars being an alternative to Earth is ludicrous. Is it intended to be an escape plan for the wealthy? Let's get our house in order before we fly off looking for a new one.

— Dale Derouin, Dallas

Sixty-five years ago, my wife and the World War II GI Bill were supporting me as a freshman at Willamette University. I wrote a science class paper on whether there was life on Mars. The result of my research was inconclusive.

We still don't know. We should keep working on it.

— Wally Gutzler, Woodburn

Yes. America and Americans need to regain a sense of national accomplishment and achievement. A manned mission to Mars has the potential to become a unifying goal and a much-needed American rally point.

— Steve Baxter, Salem

No. Robotic exploration could be informative, but we have not yet heard of any tangible resource awaiting us on Mars. The project would provide a great many jobs, but there probably are many other projects that could provide more immediate benefits with less risk.

— Judy L. Oliver, Salem

Yes. Look at all the new developments and products that have been developed because of our space programs in the last 50 years.

— Roger Vasend, Salem

In a word, no. What would they do there? There is no way for humans to live there, so what would it prove? Or maybe they are going to look for aliens?

Another completely wasteful project by an agency that has long outlived its usefulness. Time to close down NASA and use the funds for something truly worthwhile.

— Cheryl Eby, Salem

Yes, if we truly care about the sustainability of the human race, we need to colonize other worlds. One rock that hits the earth can erase us without a trace.

— Burton King, Salem

I do not. However, many do. With an $18 trillion national debt, it would seem there are better ways to spend the money, such as applying it to the debt. A little more discipline in spending would be quite welcome to those who pay the bills.

— Jim Jaqua, Keizer

Yes. Humankind are explorers. And even if the mission is terminated, the knowledge gained will be applied to other projects.

— Lew Hundley, Salem

No, what will it help us? We are not even able to do what we need to help people here on earth. Our dollar will soon be worthless, and the terrorists are in charge of our government. Why do we need to fly to Mars?

Get back to the government we started with, which was a Judeo-Christian nation. Now they are going Islamist and transgenderational; one a terror, the other weird.

— William K. Dettwyler, Salem

I thought the president had about killed the Space Program (because he hated to see so many people as smart as he in one place!). But no, NASA lives and is seemingly well along toward a manned mission to and on Mars' surface.

Of course, it's worth the expense AND risk! How do you think we got to be the preeminent nation in the world — by being stingy and afraid? Plans need some tweaking, but push on!

— Woody Tiernan, Dallas

Life back on earth has benefited greatly by inventions and technology improvements designed for space exploration. As a species we should continue to explore and always have a new frontier.

— Richard Pine, Salem

It may be worth the risk, but not the expense. Not when so many national programs such as education, infrastructure, veterans and social programs need the funding more. In the long term, NASA should be a lower priority than those programs. It may be fun to send someone to Mars, but it won't do the U.S. citizens much good.

— Claude Shinn, Salem

The research and development of new ideas and actual gadgets, tools, apparatuses and contraptions that NASA has given us from their previous space explorations have made living a lot easier. I expect the same would happen from developing a manned Mars mission. The actual flight is just one aspect.

— Chuck Sides, Salem

As a child of the '60s, I say yes. NASA instilled awe and wonder to a whole generation. The expense will be offset by the spawn of new scientific knowledge and technologies. Plus, we have no shortage of brave men and women who would be willing to take the risks to become Earth's first interplanetary pioneers.

— Thomas P. Krise, Salem

My real question is, Why? The amount of money spent would do a lot to feed starving Americans and help pay down the national debt. But what the heck, the government knows how to blow more money then this one person could ever imagine. I say no go!

— DeWayne Wilson, Hubbard

Only if we send John McCain and Lindsey Graham for the purpose of scouting out yet another war opportunity.

— David Haber, Salem