America has what might be the best evidence for life on Mars. NASA’s Perseverance rover has gathered rock samples that could contain compelling biosignatures of ancient microbial life. No one is quite sure yet, and the samples need to be tested in a lab before we can conclusively prove that our distant neighbor once harbored life. Too bad. We’re never going to see the results. In January, funding for the project was canceled. Donald Trump has other plans for the red planet.

He obsesses over competition with China and with planting the Stars and Stripes on alien soil. So to the horror of many of the world’s scientists, Trump has pulled the US space effort away from incremental robotic exploration to prioritize human landings on the Moon and Mars.

“Americans are explorers, builders, innovators, entrepreneurs and pioneers,” Trump said during his inaugural address last year. He pledged that the US would “pursue our manifest destiny into the stars.” His understanding of space comes mainly from Elon Musk, seen by many as wildly optimistic. Musk aims to launch unmanned Mars-bound spacecraft later this year, timed to the next Earth-Mars orbital alignment, with crewed missions to follow in 2028 if the uncrewed mission succeeds.

Although Musk continues to promote this ambitious timetable, most expect it to slip, including Jared Isaacman, NASA’s chief. He estimates that we won’t have people on Mars for at least ten to 15 years and even that is seen as optimistic.

Many scientists have criticized the cancellation of the samples’ return. Victoria Hamilton, of the Southwest Research Institute, said canceling it will overturn decades of research and diminish US space leadership on the global stage. She’s not the only one. Casey Dreier, head of space policy at the US Planetary Society, said that it was an “extinction-level event” for space science.

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Congress partly sided with the scientists. They rejected most of Trump’s proposed cuts, allocating NASA $24.4 billion, which was much more than expected. But Trump still........

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