Too bad they never stoped the moon/space program. It’s essentially been stagnating for the last many years. If they devoted the energy to space exploration that they devoted to, say, their millitary, we’d already have bases on the moon, and probably have maned landings on mars.

I say all the more power to the chinese. It’ll be a blow to western pride, but I say that the “Old folks” in the space industry need to get a bit of mud kicked in their faces. Space IS good for more than just another broadcast point for entertainment, you know.

Come on, we space enthousiasts have to acknowledge that there are also other things, perhaps more pressing, to spend tax money on. As long as the objective is just ‘being there’, I do not think any government will support spending too much on space.
I think space spending will ignite like fire when we can demonstrate that doing something or something else in space makes financial sense: you SAVE money doing it in space rather than on Earth. This is already often true for telecom, positioning and remote sensing. We have to show the same for manned space.
Anyway lets see how things pan out now that the Chinese are entering the game.

from today’s Borowitz Report (down at the bottom):

Elsewhere, in a sign that the President is serious about sending Americans to the moon, Mr. Bush today added the moon to the Axis of Evil.

…backpedaling.

‘Cuz I voted for “NASA Just Does Yet Another Paper Study” in the poll. Wish I’d been wrong…

Here it is…

***** PRIZE ******

***** To Drog *****

For knowing that a moonrock in the hand is worth more than promises from two Bushes.

groan at MY puns??

From the International Herald Tribune: The Bush administration is developing a new strategy for the U.S. space program that would send American astronauts back to the moon for the first time in more than 30 years, according to administration and congressional officials who said the plan also included a manned mission to Mars. A lunar mission – possibly establishing a permanent base there – is the focus of high-level White House discussions on how to reinvigorate the space program following the space shuttle Columbia accident this year, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. NASA, along with other agencies, has been providing the administration with information about these long-term objectives,” said Robert Jacobs, a spokesman for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
NASA officials met in Washington this week as part of a national space policy review prompted by the Columbia disaster, which killed all seven astronauts aboard. While officials stressed that the White House had yet to sign off on a specific plan, they said President George W. Bush was expected soon to unveil a strategy that would include manned missions to the moon and to Mars. The idea is to motivate NASA engineers and researchers by aiming to explore deeper reaches of space than the current shuttle fleet is capable of visiting. Vice President Dick Cheney recently met with members of Congress to discuss the proposals, the officials said.
NASA officials and space specialists increasingly believe that recent American human space flight activities – particularly the delayed and costly construction of the International Space Station – do not push the envelope enough to motivate researchers and engineers or spark the kind of public fascination with space that was generated by the first missions to the moon. A challenge to go back to the moon and reinvigorate the space flight program would be welcomed by the public.

bush is LOST IN SPACE! how are we to pay for this?
with play-play money? he got us in a war (s) we cant pay for.gw needs to hide out with bin laden and cheney.