An excerpt: “Is giving NASA a go-ahead to propel humans headlong into deep space likely asking for trouble? That’s the belief of Greg Klerkx, author of the forthcoming book, Lost in Space: The Fall of NASA and the Dream of a New Space Age, to be published by Pantheon Books in January.

NASA is probably capable of technically and organizationally sending humans beyond Earth, Klerkx said. “But could NASA send humans anywhere beyond Earth within a reasonably engaging timeframe — perhaps a decade from announcement — and within a budget that wouldn’t leave taxpayers howling, and thus at some point force the government to scrap the idea altogether? I doubt it. The precedents of the space shuttle and ISS programs don’t bode very well for success,” he told SPACE.com .

In the aftermath of the Columbia tragedy, much has been said about what ‘vision’ the nation should have for human spaceflight, Klerkx acknowledges. But he adds that this dialogue has focused on “revitalizing NASA” — as if the right infusion of money and ‘vision’ can recreate the achievements and excitement of the Apollo era.

“Any effort to try and to reengage the public by revitalizing NASA is a red herring,” Klerkx senses. “Any consideration of what ‘vision’ we ought to have for human spaceflight needs to start from a much cleaner slate than ‘how do we revitalize NASA’,” he said.

Klerkx said that there is a better question. “What is it about the idea of humans in space that is exciting and valuable? From that should follow how such activity should be pursued, rather than assuming that it will be a repeat of how things happened before and with the same players taking the same roles.”

The term of “restructuring” NASA has little meaning, Klerkx said. “Restructured for what? Another space race? Keeping the shuttle program alive? Finishing the ISS so that it can do whatever nebulous job NASA is now claiming it will do? The question gets tricky very quickly!”

In his forthcoming book, Klerkx suggests that the promise of human space exploration has come to rest in the hands of private entrepreneurs and visionaries.”