Mars Global Surveyor is the oldest of five NASA robotic probes checking the planet for signs that Mars once had water...Global Surveyor, which has found evidence of ancient channels and gullies that likely were carved by flowing water, stopped working on November 2 after it developed a motor problem...

What benefit has space exploration brought to the human race? I am not saying don't put satelites in orbit, etc. But searching for life out there while down here famines, wars and pestilence still rage. I don't know.