Steve Swanson, a distinguished educator in residence, retired NASA astronaut and professor of the practice, recently published an article in The Conversation titled “Are Astronauts Worth Tens of Billions of Dollars in Extra Costs to go to Mars?”
The article begins, “As society contemplates going to the moon or Mars, there’s a rising debate as to whether it’s worth spending billions of dollars to send humans to other planets if a robot or rover can perform the necessary science. I think NASA needs to send both humans and machines. Let me explain why.”