Begin work now on sending people — not just robots — to Mars

With all the pressing issues confronting Americans at home and abroad, some of us have grown a bit touchy about the ambitions of those turning their eyes to the stars. Although no less than former president Barack Obama threw his weight, shortly before leaving office, behind the goal of a human mission to Mars, his successor’s support for the same epochal achievement has rankled critics more inclined to spend big on superficially low-risk, broadly distributed social entitlements. However w