SIR - To boldly go where no space exploration has gone before, the rocket to launch NASA's Parker Solar Probe blasted off on August 12. It will detect our sun's processes that are key to understanding and forecasting space weather events that can impact life on earth.

Irrespective of the degree of sophistication of the suite of instruments on board, the data collected from the $1.5bn mission will be interpreted from instruments designed by scientists who do not yet understand the life force within themselves.

When life has developed humans to understand the difference between animate and inanimate matter, they may find themselves in another dimension that enables them to comprehend much more of the universe and, indeed, obviates the desire for expensive probes to anywhere, especially as there are so many poor Americans.

Geoff Naylor, Birch Close, Winchester, Hampshire