[cripplecreek]

I would have been a lot more impressed if Gingrich had promised to get us out of the outer space treaty and give industry the go ahead to claim tracts of land and asteroids in space if they can put feet on them and utilize them.

I’m OK with funding NASA as a pure exploration, pathfinding, and prospecting agency in the manner of Lewis and Clark.

If liberals really wanted to save the earth, they would be screaming for the industrialization of space. What better way to end metals mining on earth than mining metal rich asteroids. What better way to get rid of industrial pollution and waste than manufacturing in space.

[Lx]

I have no problem funding Nasa if they are doing engineering to exploit space like replacing the space shuttle; Muslim outreach, that's for social services not Nasa.

I'm still angry that they killed the shuttle without a replacement. Yes it was dangerous but I and probably every astronaut would ride it into space regardless. There are risks to everything we do. This thinking that everything should be risk free is ridiculous. A great goal, no doubt, but it shouldn't stop all activity. When Alan Shepard sat in the first Mercury capsule waiting for launch, he knew how dangerous it was and how many failures there were but he did it anyway. I didn't know he died from leukemia in 1998 according to wiki.

Do they even have swing-sets on playgrounds these days or are they deemed too dangerous?

I would have been a lot more impressed if Gingrich had promised to get us out of the outer space treaty and give industry the go ahead to claim tracts of land and asteroids in space if they can put feet on them and utilize them.

I agree. With our current plans and administration, we'll be the last to get there and probably riding on a Russian or Chinese launch vehicle.