I was watching Cosmos last night, and Sagan claimed that the (wealth-relative) costs of send a manned expedition to Mars is less than that of a Dutch expedition

I was watching Cosmos last night, and Sagan claimed that the (wealth-relative) costs of send a manned expedition to Mars is less than that of a Dutch expedition across the world in... the 1600s I think it was? And yet they accomplished it multiple times. I need to research it better, but it's a compelling argument if it holds.