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Thats why I said " its just admitting that we don't have all the answers yet." Ion propulsion is still in its infancy (and, IMO, the future of all interplanetary travel). No manned space craft currently uses artificial gravity to maintain earth-like conditions for its crew. Pointing to Arthur C. Clarke novels as to the way things should be is great, but we can't escape the reality of the way things are right now. And watching the xprize folks take flight this year, I'm beginning to wonder if the serious advances in human space exploration will be private ones ( as Clark alluded to). I'm optimistic about the possibility of future human planetary exploration, but at the moment - robots answer questions at a fraction of the cost with no risk to human life. When we have workable, low cost solutions for human planetary exploration, I'll be 100% behind it. That implies a lot of project development such as getting propulsion technology in place and figuring out how to maintain contained ecosystems. And , of course, keeping the cost down for us taxpayers. A "solution" with an astronomical price tag is something that should be avoided as long as the project is publicly funded - especially if current alternatives satisfy mission objectives at a fraction of the price. In my view, human longterm travel and colonization in space is not the objective right now. When the technology catches up, the objectives can be revised.

When the technology catches up, the objectives can be revised.

I understand what you are saying and that it should be cheap. If that was the case in the 60s, we would never have gone to the moon and not had personal computers, satellites beaming pictures from Saturn and archaeological discoveries galore.

JFKs goal of putting a man on the moon and getting him back plus Demmings genius made the future as we know it possible.

Technological leaps come when big dreams are in the picture. Who knows what cost technology will be. But I would rather do both, send robots as we are to the planets and reach for the stars at the same time.

Take care.