House science committee member asks NASA about Martians

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA)

Citizens of the United States, I give you the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology:

During a hearing of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology Tuesday, Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher managed to baffle and amaze when he asked about life on Mars.

[…]

"You have indicated that Mars had a, was totally different thousands of years ago," the California congressman said, addressing a panel of space science experts.

"Is it possible that there was a civilization on Mars thousands of years ago?"

Ever the trooper, Kenneth Farley — NASA Mars 2020 rover project scientist — had to start off his answer by correcting Rohrabacher's question.

"So, the evidence is that Mars was different billions of years ago, not thousands of years ago," Farley said.

He also added that "there is no evidence that I'm aware of —" before the congressman cut him off, refining his original question.

"Would you rule that out? That — see, there are some people — well, anyway," Rohrabacher said.

Farley answered: "I would say that is extremely unlikely."

I would like to reiterate that this comes from the Congressional House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. The panel chiefly determines the course of scientific research and education in the country for years to come. It’s also populated with blind ideologues and corporate sellouts who happily reject science, mock experts and promote Breitbart lies – and who now apparently join the President in listening to Alex Jones.

The US is so fucked.

(via I fucking love science | Facebook)