it upsets me how behind our program got these past few presidential administrations
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More than the past few - the US program went off the rails back near the beginning with the cancellation of Project Orion in 1964, which began in 1958 (Government interagency infighting, NASA Apollo conflict, perceived treaty obligations, lack of political leadership. “...the first time in modern history that a major expansion of human technology has been suppressed for political reasons.” - Freeman Dyson.) Their motto was Mars by 1965, Saturn by 1970.
We would have explored the entire solar system by now as well as some of the nearby stars. but as you can see from the latest turns in the present or recent programs there has again been a massive failure of political will; until that changes, if ever, space will be for other nations - not the US.
There are many on FR who demonstrate this failure of will, who consider space exploration a waste of money, money they claim we do not have which can be better used for feeding the poor, curing the sick and so forth ad nauseam.
There are a number of youtube videos on the subject in case you are interested in learning what we lost.
All I know is we stopped going to the moon...around Nixon time? I think the Vietnam fall out and post 60s-craziness warped things a bit for the country.
Also the later accidents with the Challenger, Columbia, etc...
:( I don’t want to dwell on the past missed opportunities. I’m also awful in that I don’t like “sharing” outer space haha (until we do whatever it is first.) I’ve turned into a bit of a “Cold Warrior” these days haha.