[chimera]

Well, don't get me wrong, I'm not the world's biggest fan of either the shuttle or ISS. I just wanted to point out some practical, real-world examples of "useful science" that came of both, in contrast to a sweeping generalization made in an earlier post.

BTW, I think the robotic missions are fine, too, so perhaps my "tinker toys" comment should be taken in context. I see no reason why a robust program of exploration and development could not encompass both a manned and a robotic component. There are just some things that people do better than robots right now. Likewise, there are places where people cannot go right now and it makes sense to send machines there first if we want to learn about them.

[RadioAstronomer]

BTW, I think the robotic missions are fine, too,

Hope so, since I flew interplanetaries at JPL.

[saganite]

I have read reports that the new moon/mars focus is all really about getting NASA out of the Shuttle/ISS business so they can focus on exploration again. The contention is that there's no real program to get to Mars (the moon is a possibility) but the focus on these goals will provide a graceful exit for NASA from these two money consuming programs. If that's true I'm all for it.