Thanks for posting this. I will forward it on to my brother who has been to all the Mars Conferences and has met many of the astronauts.

I don't understand all the ins and outs of all this political maneuvering, but I'll say this: it sure feels like Obama is just trying to deprive Bush of his legacy.

Isn't the simpler answer that the economy is bad and Americans by-and-large favor cuts to NASA?

I don't like this decision, but I'm not cynical about the reasons behind it.

Think, Thinklings. Does gov't have the obligation to fund space exploration?

I do not mean that one may reflexively answer that question. Eg, I'd argue that, since God gives gov't the sword (responsiblity to keep meanies controlled), it very well might have reason to invest in research related to national defense.

But I would argue also that exploration belongs primarly in the hands of people other than gov't.

So while I'm very sad about the 'short sighted' choice not to make use of the local "shallow gravity well" aka Moon (which would provide both an incredible laboratory and a base of operations), I'm not devastated. Maybe Space One and similar will get into play.

And it may take as many centuries to get the game going as did the path to developing North and South America.

Roy,

There is definitely an argument to be made for what you're suggesting here. I don't think there's a constitutional case for the funding of pure exploration by the Government.

I think the space race of the 60s, however, was a national security issue in many ways. I have a lot of affection for the old NASA and that's what prompted this post. Plus, I'm a technologist and it absolutely kills me that we got to the moon on 1960s technology and now, forty years later, we can't get there at all.

Bill (posts 7, 8),
I echo your groans.

Once in a while I muse on the tragedies that almost happened because NASA had to rely on vacuum tubes rather than solid state, on roomsized computers that my laptop could beat.

Can't folks do more now? Well, there's still that problem of gravity vs energy density of fuels. (Ironically, the Moon would be the perfect place to build a magnetic launch rail.)

Now if Obama et al won't make space explorers liable for accidents with no caps on liability....