Man landing on the moon was an amazing achievement. Getting to Mars would be an impressive feat as well. However, Americans shouldn’t have to pay for that accomplishment anytime soon.

NASA’s plan to create new heavy-launch vehicles to take human beings to asteroids and eventually Mars is unnecessary and absurd considering America’s debt.

Is being more than $14 trillion in debt not enough? Spending billions more to go get new dirt samples is not worth the cost.

Retiring the fleet of space shuttles last year was a good financial decision. Replacing them with enormous new ones just makes things worse.

No one knows exactly how much the plans are going to cost to send people to Mars. With budget shortfalls, project setbacks and the predictable rise in estimated costs, building the most powerful rockets known to man would easily soar to more than $100 billion.

The high speed railroad for California currently has a price tag of nearly $100 billion after it was estimated to cost around $45 billion a few years ago. If one railroad in one state is going to have expenses balloon out of control to such an extreme, the cost of going to another planet is going to be astronomical, literally.

But NASA shouldn’t be dismantled either. The brightest minds America has to offer can still do amazing things today in an organization with an amazing history.

Focusing on practical objectives should be the direction until the economy turns around. Collaborating with private companies could help reduce costs and lead to new ideas. Accomplishments could still be made while putting space exploration on hold.

“Develop new materials they could use in everyday stuff, instead of (building) satellites and rockets,” said junior engineering major Daniel Ambriz. “NASA would be a good place to work.”

Space exploration is a legitimate scientific endeavor, but it’s also a luxury science America simply can’t afford. Ideally it would be better if someone with an obscene fortune spent it on getting someone to Mars so taxpayers could avoid the bill altogether.

There are enough places to explore on Earth before taxpayers spend a fortune for global bragging rights. Every year there are discoveries of new species in remote jungles and the much of the ocean floor hasn’t been reached yet.

If another country reaches Mars first, good for them.  Rock and soil samples can be brought to biologists for study through diplomatic channels and the taxpayers can save billions. America already relies on Russia to get to the International Space Station now anyway.

The projected budget for NASA in 2012 is $18.7 billion. A large portion of their budget should go to other, more pressing needs. Higher education, rehabilitation for returning soldiers and natural disaster relief are all more important than blasting off to Mars.

Someday when the economy is hopefully better, facing the challenge of going to another planet could be worth it. At that point in time, technology will be more advanced and astronauts will be able to conduct more studies.

Mars has been around for billions of years, it’s not going to float away. Getting there as soon as possible isn’t necessary.

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