[OKRA2012]

The Space Race (to the moon) is over.

We won.

[Olog-hai]

It’s on again, and you don’t want the USA to compete?

Ever heard the admonition against resting on one’s laurels . . . ? It’s not the same spirit that the USA had when going to the moon.

[Kozak]

NO we would have won if we had stayed and built a permanent presence on the Moon. You won’t feel that way when the Chinese have their base on the Moon.

[Atlas Sneezed]

The Space Race (to the moon) is over.

We won.

---

And manned spaceflight then was at the brief moment in history when computers were just good enough to help man get to the moon, but still bad enough that the men were needed.

Men are no longer needed in space, and robots can do 10 times as much for one tenth the price. Consider 500 robotic missions to Mars over 25 years, each building on the knowledge and technology from those that preceded it. Compared to efforts to send a couple men to Mars, which might happen in 25 years, learn virtually nothing, possibly fail tragically, and cost 10x as much.