Not much passes my Ten Year Test. When considering a decision of any importance I tend to apply it: "Will this matter in ten years?" If not, I don't get too concerned about the answer. But if yes? Then proverbially I sit up and take notice. This week my ire was sufficiently inflamed to post this column despite late breaking information that may moot the opinion contained. Doesn't matter though, spleen must vent.

Budget cuts bite everywhere, no less our tenuous foothold on our backyard solar system. Yet it seems not even successful programs are exempt, for according to recent reports the Martian rovers Spirit and Opportunity are to be shut down since they cost too much (about $4 million). Spirit would be commanded to hibernate and Opportunity would have its assignments drastically reduced.

This is more than just a tempest in a dusty reddened teapot. These machines are functioning beyond all expectations, being sacrificed by bean-counters in a bloated bureaucracy which is arguably not so. The Martian rovers have been one of the outstanding accomplishments of recent space exploration, not only surviving but continuing to provide useful science long after they were expected to spittle, spark, and die.

ISS is large and impressive, and every shuttle flight reminds us of the tremendous accomplishment required by thousands to lift seven or eight of us up for a visit, some construction, and maybe a boomerang toss or two. But we're all suckers for cute robots, especially those equipped with little engines that could, and these two have kept on trucking far above and beyond the call of duty.

There should be an outrage! And I suspect there was. Having said all this, less than a day later NASA announced "absolutely no plan to turn off either of the Mars Rovers because of budget cuts," saying the earlier letter had been "rescinded." Good! If the budget problem was a thousand times larger, or if it were easy to just plop! Plop! drop two rovers onto Arean acreage, then the debate would take different shading. But the curse of Martian landers is no myth. (It may not quite be the truth either, but does make one reflect!) For humanity to get so lucky to have not only one but two toes make gainful purchase on that distant rocky beach, and then to squander that opportunity for lack of funds while we churn dollars into bloody sand, goes beyond irresponsible deep into reckless and unforgivable. Please NASA please. Keep our toes safe on Mars.