curiosity SKILLS the ape

http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/2011/11/23/nasa%E2%80%99s-new-mars-curiosity-rover-launching-saturday/
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[ Wheeled robots soon fly to MARS!
Curiosity skills the human ape. ]
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Can we still afford
to explore space?
Shouldn't we spend the money on Earth,
helping to solve humanity's problems?
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   Actually, SCIENCE research is the most effective way to invent
new technology, and make new discoveries, which will
allow us to minimize human suffering.
   Space exploration produces many new technologies,
which can benefit everyone.
   But we don't have unlimited dollars. So we need
COST-EFFECTIVE exploration. More knowledge for each dollar.
    This means we should send smart machines -- ROBOTS --
rather than live humans, to Mars.
   Most robots don't look like sci-fi artists and writers imagined.
Your smart-phone is a robot. And so are the wheeled vehicles
we send on one-way trips to Mars.
    Robotic machines can explore our entire solar system,
cost-effectively, because they can travel one-way;
and don't need air, food, water, etc.
    We can't ethically send humans on one-way trips to Mars --
even tho many older adults, including me, would volunteer.
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What about UFOs?
  If other civilizations have visited Earth, why would they
risk lives?  Why send living persons? 
   Probably they sent computerized/robotized vehicles instead.
The "flying saucer" could be a robot itself --
or carry a crew of robots inside.
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   Back in the 60s,in the early days of space flight,
our best computers were not smart enough to make decisions in emergencies.
Human crews were needed,
including those who sacrificed their lives.
   Since then, robots/computers have been "evolving" very rapidly.
Soon they will be able to "staff" an observatory located on the Moon --
or in orbit around the Moon.
   Or a laboratory located on Mars.
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Knowlege for its own sake?
No, science doesn't really work that way.
Whatever a science worker's motivation may be,
the knowledge benefits everyone.
Even if the research was intended for war, the results can help
-- unexpectedly -- in peaceful pursuits.
Remember the origin of the Internet?
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The old conservative know-nothing proverb says,
"Curiosity kills the cat".
Well, sometimes it does.
But, more often,
curiosity SKILLS the cat.
And you and me.
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