We know we can get to the Moon, with a little digging in archives.
Build a research station there and actually do it safely for a number of years and then we talk about going to Mars.
Mecca or Medina is the only voyage NASA will take under this administration.
The moon ....a great place to launch from. Not to mention He3 to fuel a fusion drive.
Or was that after we finish reaching out to Muslims?
How about some way to get into orbit without hitching a ride with the Russians or Chinese?
Launch thousands of probes, robots, robocars, etc. at the sun, the planets, the Oort cloud, and various interesting comets and asteroids.
We'll learn a lot more about our solar system and the cosmos in general for less money.
We won't be doing any significant travel into space until we've merged with robots anyway. So why try and put feeble human flesh up there?
I thought it was to increase Muslim’s self-esteem.
“NASA can’t afford ...” there it is the money argument - what they are really saying is forget both, get on with climate change and muslim outreach.
The logical thing is to do both - the Moon and then on to Mars - far more economical and far safer.
But that will be up to the Chinese as the US will continue to blankly stare into its collective navel hoping that some one drops off a load of free stuff.
And we are going no where else until the educational system gets fixed and we return to the academic standards of at least 1936. If not, pack it in, move to China or do something else.
NASA is better off focusing their energies and monies on deep space probes.
Setup a base on a low-G body like Demos or Ceres.
The moon would make an ideal base for testing equipment, crew radiation protection, etc., and a less difficult launch site for a Mars mission than either the Earth or near Earth orbit. Plus, we should have had a base or bases there since the 1970’s and would if it hadn’t been for loss of nerve and focus.