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> There are no military or economic applications of knowing what Martian soil is made out of, or why it lost its atmosphere, or whether life evolved there too.

That should start with, "There is no _known_..."

Unknown unknowns are why people who care about economics and power (governments) care about science.

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You can always say "there could be unknown useful applications!", no matter how improbable. That's not a strong argument.

It's worse than weak. It is an argument that works better the stupider you are.

Seriously.

The stupider you are, the more likely it is that there is something valuable that you don't know about.

But sophistry on that level doesn't actually change the minimal economic value of putting people on Mars.

Why did the British put Darwin on the Beagle? Who the hell cares what turtles are?

Well it turned out to be the start of something very important.

Think of all of the science that goes into firing and controlling a precision guided missile. How much of that technology was created for military purposes.

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