Opportunity Rolling Along

While NASA's rover, Spirit, is stuck in soft soil on one side of Mars, its twin on the other side of the planet, Opportunity, has just passed the ten miles traversed mark.

For a rover that was designed to cover one kilometer in 90 days, covering ten miles in more than five years is an astonishing achievement. Let's be clear, however-- it is ten miles in over five years. A manned mission could cover that much ground in one day, and do better science along the way.

The debate over manned versus robotic space exploration misses the point. Wherever possible, as on the Moon and on Mars, both should be employed, using the strengths of each.