It's been ten years since the Mars Pathfinder Mission.

Wow! That doesn't seem like that was all that long ago. Of course, it's also easy to forget that Sojourner's cousins Spirit & Opportunity landed on Mars over 3 years ago...

U.S. Mars exploration has been a decadal series of accomplishments, even with the losses of the Mars Observer, Polar Lander and Climate Orbiter.

Given the recent hydrological discoveries from the Mars Exploration Rovers, the multimission objective to 'follow the water' can indeed be considered a triumph.

You forgot to point out that Mars Pathfinder was a useless waste of taxpayer dollars, a program that was simultaneously uselessly bloated and laughably undercapable, a shining example of design by bureaucracy.

I mean, it was done by NASA, after all. Obviously it's crap, right? I mean, everyone knows that The Government can't do anything right, and that Private Industry is so vastly superior that they ought to do everything.

You forgot to point out that Mars Pathfinder was a useless waste of taxpayer dollars, a program that was simultaneously uselessly bloated and laughably undercapable, a shining example of design by bureaucracy.

[scratching head]

Why would I mention something that I don't believe, and not true?

I mean, it was done by NASA, after all. Obviously it's crap, right?

I've never claimed that NASA's not capable of doing anything right. I wish that you'd comment on things I actually write, instead of what the voices in your head tell you I write.

Rand, thus far, the only times you've ever posted about NASA was to piss all over it. Pardon me for expecting more of the same.

Rand, thus far, the only times you've ever posted about NASA was to piss all over it.

That's complete nonsense, and anyone who regularly reads this web site knows it.

But live on in your fantasies. If they ever actually trouble you, there are medications for it.