I just have one question about Newt’s Mars mission. This is a serious question, not trying to be snarky. Newt’s idea is to use the private sector to finance his Moon base and eventual trip to Mars. Now, if the government isn’t going to help finance it, why would the President and/or the Congress have to be involved? I would think if the private sector saw value in the project they would be working on it already. So, my question is: What role does the government play? Does Congress have to approve space exploration for the private sector?
Serious answer for a serious question. Newt said he would repurpose funds already allocated to NASA from other projects to the moon base. And he said the private sector would be 80-90% of the funding, not all. More privatization is the direction space exploration is headed worldwide, and that’s a wonderful direction to go in. I am less concerned with whether the deadline of 8 years is met than with the fact that we just get started on the fundamental national security goal of exploring and exploiting space.