Why I can’t support Nasa’s Mars mission

Are we not deserting our planet – literally and metaphorically – at the precise moment it needs us most, asks Rupert Hawksley

Nasa’s Perseverance rover has landed on Mars after a 300 million mile journey from Earth (Nasa/JPL-Caltech)

I was struck by a letter we received last week from a reader called Ian Reid. While most people were rejoicing at the news that a Nasa robot had landed on Mars, Mr Reid was less impressed.

“Curmudgeonly though it may seem,” he wrote, “I remain mystified why so many resources are being deployed to explore Mars for life that is likely to have been extinct for at least two gigayears (if, indeed, it existed at all) when we have so many issues to address on planet Earth.”

I simply hadn’t considered this as anything other than a good news story, so thrilled was I by the idea of a man-made machine beetling about on the surface of another planet. But Mr Reid might be right. It does seem strange to spend billions of dollars – the mission is expected to cost $2.8bn over 10 years – on exploring Mars when our own planet is beset by problems, most obviously the climate crisis, which may yet be ruinous. Yes, perhaps that money would be better spent getting our own house in order.

It is, of course, reductive to set this up as an either/or argument. Had Nasa not spent $2.8bn on this mission, there is no guarantee the money would have been spent on saving planet Earth. Highly unlikely, in fact. And as one reader commented on Mr Reid’s letter: “There are all manner of pointless activities that could be spared first. Premier League football and the making of reality TV shows spring to mind.” Fair point.

Droll remarks aside, though, when you consider the time and brain power that have gone into landing the Perseverance rover on Mars – one of three spacecraft to arrive at the planet this month, following those from the Chinese and United Arab Emirates space agencies – you can’t help but reflect on our priorities. Are we not deserting our planet – literally and metaphorically – at the precise moment it needs us most? And for what, exactly? A few grainy pictures of rocks.

Space has always seduced us. The race to get as far away as possible from Earth has long been an obsession for humans, not least as a way of proving one country’s superiority over the rest. But, as unsexy as it might be, perhaps we need to roll our sleeves up and start focusing on the myriad problems closer to home, or we may not even have a planet to escape from. It was certainly noteworthy that, on the day Perseverance touched down on Mars, Texas was being battered by the worst winter storms in decades.

Add into the mix the fact that, just last month, Nasa announced that 2020 was the hottest year on record, and it becomes perfectly reasonable for US citizens to ask what Nasa plans to do about this, rather than buzzing off to a planet 300 million miles away.

Curmudgeonly you may be, Mr Reid, but also, I think, quite correct. Thank you for bringing me back down to Earth with a bump.

Yours,

Rupert Hawksley

Voices senior commissioning editor