The unmanned side of NASA works really well. I agree the manned program needs to be scrapped including the ISS. Bigelow will have something better and cheaper up and running in ten years anyway. As for Dawn not accomplishing anything worthwhile, scientists believe there’s water on Ceres (I think). That’s the kind of knowledge I would consider worthwhile, especially if we’re going to be sending those Conestogas out there.
Some of those bodies are water. All water. Frozen of course. We could hook up some ion motors and bring one or more to the moon.
Look, to a certain extent I’m playing the devils advocate here. I’m not here to pester you guys, but dang folks. You want to know if there’s water on Ceres. We haven’t been back to the moon in decades, but water on Ceres is a top priority. That is just senseless to me.
Pick a planet, any planet and let’s find out what we need to go there and do it. As we branch out, THEN we need to know about Ceres, not now.
What is NASAs budget each year. What does that amount to over 35 years? Where’s the beef?