deowll says:

The role played by humans, in fact our entire galaxy, in the Universe would seem to be to trivial for mere words to express.

Improbus says:

What is beyond the observable universe? /dev/null,

JimR says:

Energizer knows how big the universe is.

Glenn E. says:

Ya know, they can make these incredible powerful telescopes and spy satellites. And I see very little reason for needing to send humans out into space, to try and make the very same measurements, and pictures, that these unmanned devices can do. It’s simply not worth the risks, to justify man’s presence, at taxpayers’ expense. In order to fulfill a bunch of defense contractors’ dream budgets. That’s all the US Space program is really about. Keeping these leeches in the black ink, between wars. As soon as any serious spending reform threatens the program, saving Lockheed’s or Boeing’s bottom line, becomes the final argument. SCREW THEM. They’re existence isn’t guaranteed in the Constitution. I wish everyone in California, and in the Tv and film industry, would stop acting as if the world will come to an end without their precious Space program. They’re often in league with the NASA contractors, ya know.

Or at least reign in NASA’s spending, and stop training and preparing for a manned “Mars Mission” that’s never going to happen. Trust me, it won’t. Astronauts talk a good “flight”. But I’ll bet none of them have signed up, FOR REAL, to go to Mars. And NASA treats anyone who does ask to go, as possibly insane! So they’re not even taking their own goals seriously. Go ahead and volunteer, and see if they don’t lock you away.

Let’s stick to risking unmanned probes, to do the rock sampling. We don’t need to risk human bodies in space, to do 99% of this work that a machine can do. Just because it’s more glamorous that an American astronaut hero is doing it. And gets more appropriations from Congress, than probes do.