[Constantine XIII]

I pray that this is true! GO W!

[The_Victor]

Ping for your space list.

There has been a great deal of buzz about nuclear propulsion and a Mars mission here at the Johnson Space Center. I'll take this a good sign that the administration is serious about this.

[DB]

Call me nuts but I strongly support such a project.

We've got to get off this rock and expand our horizons.

[Sparta]

This is good news. It is humanity's destiny to control the stars and this is the first step.

[KevinDavis]

It seems that W is a futurist. He sees things in the long term of things. Not the short term of things. I'm glad I voted for him!

[ncpastor]

What folks don't seem to understand is that human beings carry sin with us wherever we go - onto the internet, which initially was a neutral environment, and now is permeated with porn and other crap, as well as constantly being overrun by some new "virus" - and to Mars, where future colonies would only reflect the character of the founders - namely, human beings. Only with God are new creations possible that won't be overcome by sin.

But it's a cool idea anyway. As a kid I read Ray Bradbury voraciously, and have always believed we'd go to Mars someday.

[Burkeman1]

It's possible to go to Mars using chemical rockets alone, but just barely.

Not true. A manned mission to Mars using chemical rockets is very possible and always has been. What has been lacking is the political will to do so.

[Mr. Thorne]

Orion. A big(!), thick, hemisphere with a battleship on top. Light off a nuclear bomb underneath, and, voila!

Now THAT would be something to watch as it launched!

[aruanan]

Mars and lunar colonization BUMP!!

[Search4Truth]

The future of mankind is in space. It is the nature of man to always venture past the horizon. And while the EnviroNasis want to take us back to the stone age, The Prez wants to take us into the future.

I can envision new nations being founded among our Solar planets. Who will be the founding fathers of those, I wonder?

[Junior]

The meek shall inherit the Earth. The stars belong to the bold.

[Cincinatus]

The administration's Mars proposal is at least a step in the right direction, and its adoption of nuclear space propulsion indicates more realism than the flags-and-footprints approach favored by the previous Bush administrations.

First, I'm aware of only ONE "previous Bush administration" (from 1989-1993). Second, it's simply not true that G.H.W. Bush favored a "flags and footprints" approach. One of the things that killed SEI (his Moon-Mars Initiative) was that it intended to do precisely what this guy wanted -- make nuclear rocket engines and establish permanent footholds on both the Moon and Mars. That's why the Democrat Congress killed it.

[aShepard]

Is nuclear exhaust power like the recent deep space probe "ion engine" that appeared to be highly successful???

Inquiring minds want to know!

[renosathug]

All your planet are belong to us. I'm sorry...but it was just a matter of time until someone else did it...

[Frank_Discussion]

AAAARGGH!!!! Is this Reynolds guy a syndicated columnist? If so, he's an embarassment! While Nuclear Propulsion is a nice prospect for high-powered rocketry, it is NOT what NASA is focusing on. Nuclear-Powered propulsion is different from Nuclear propulsion, but the latter method is neither as efficient or as safe as the former. This Reynolds thinks the latter is what is being proposed, and it will drive the environuts through the roof to read his misguided info.

Nuclear Propulsion in a Nutshell: Blow exhaust gasses over a very hot nuclear pile or reactor core. Very hot and usually quite radioactive gasses spew out of the system, moving very quickly. Not normally considered an environmentally-friendly way to do things when it is working right, even worse in an explosion or mishap. The advantage of such systems is the ability to launch from the ground, since you've got the immediate power to do so.

Nuclear-Powered propulsion in a Nutshell: Using Radio-Thermal Generators (RTG's) or enclosed reactors to produce electrical energy, which is then used to power plasma or ion engines to produce very clean thrust. The RTG's in particular are very safe and low in radioactivity, and the reactors can be similiarly safe by sending the reactor components for in-space assembly only. The word "nuclear" will still put off the die-hard anti-nukers, but only in an irrational way.

Reynolds didn't even pay attention to what the NASA press releases have said on this issue - he just threw his expectations into the mix and regurgitated what he THOUGHT he read. Shoddy, shoddy reporting!

[Centurion2000]

It's about time .... but go Bush ....

[A2J]

A colossal waste of money.

[Basilides]

Taka a look aat the European Space Agency Website...

No mention of NASA or the US....but references to the Space Shuttle and the ISS as if they were an international taxi and hotel

And plenty about future plans for EU Space Policy, including a trip to Mars....

And lots of excitement about the "Mars Express" to be launched in May-June of this Year.

We aren't the only ones in the game, and the Europeans have more than once intimated that they're going to Mars regardless of what NASA does

NASA worries me....like an incompetent coaching staff

[RightWhale]

a spectacular new Mars initiative, aimed at putting humans on Mars by 2010

It isn't happening.

[Pahuanui]

Gasp...Shades of Capricorn One! We could finally rid the planet of OJ!