Daniel wrote:
>But to move the discussion to another level, why do you believe there might
>be alien ruins there? What sort of sifting to you do ahead of time to
>decide that?
The big trick here that eludes everyone is that you _don't_ "decide" beforehand what is artificial and what's not. You go there and find out, which can't be done until enough good researchers are free to meaningfully discuss the issue without being ridiculed. Why Mars, as opposed to, say, the hexagonal formation on top of Saturn? Because it's a hell of a lot closer, for one thing, and we _already_ have the hardware in place to take all the photos we want--which isn't being done. And this isn't limited to the Surveyor, by any means: we plan on sending a mission every two years, culminating in a manned mission c. 2015. So we have the means. Technology isn't the impediment; psychology is.
--Mac Tonnies