The entire world is on the brink of economic collapse and the silly notion of a revamped idea of space exploration is being discussed as a sane and viable project to fund for, well, forever and without budget limits. Moon base, indeed. Time to can NASA as the political arm of the RATs and restrict space research to military purposes - and even that with restraint.
This kind of talk is symptomatic of the delusions too many seem to be under.
I know people who are out of work and are talking about buying new cars or spending credit on restaurants, etc. like this was 1999. Forget about it, Boomers. The Kennedy/Nixon/Moon dreams are gone and we have other (much more important) fish to fry.
In 1968, we actually made everything we needed right down to the rivets and bolts of the moon landers. Today, we make next to nothing and deficit spend our childrens futures on video games and mythical intellectual and service related economies. The seed corn in the barn is gone, folks.
Do we really believe our best hopes are tied to vapid and childish dreaming about the next Christmas’ wishlist? What we really need is a hard evening at the kitchen table with all the bills and we need to stay there until our income fits our outlay.
Period.
I know that grown-up talk but, really, it sounds like it’s needed around here.
If the stupid party wanted to talk grown-up we wouldn't have the sorry crop of candidates we have now.
NASA has been run by scientists for too long. The understanding, the engineering, the need (and reward) for us leading into the future has been buried by “studies” and a bloated bunch of academics sucking on the government teat.
I see a legitimate role for government in pathfinding in space like Columbus or Lewis and Clark. However, with them, there was hope for entrepreneurial followers.
Unfortunately, space has been effectively rendered off limits to industry aside from the role of taxi driver, freight hauler, and hotel management under government contract.
I’d be a lot more impressed if Gingrich were promising to work toward withdrawing from the international space treaty (which will take a decade in itself). I would go even further and announce that any company can lay claim to asteroids and hundred thousand acre tracts on the moon or any planet they can put feet on and show a drive to utilize the resources.
You are having the wrong talk with the wrong people. Defense didn't put us in this situation. Exploration didn't put us here.
We are here for two reasons: 1) the great sucking maw of entitlements and 2) the equally great sucking maw of government expansion.
Cutting back on constitutionally mandated duties that the government has been doing well for 200+ years is simply another form of denial of the problem. You aren't addressing anything, you are paving the way for even more extra-constitutional expansion.