[Georgia Girl 2]

I said private industry needs to bring forth space exploration not govt. I also said that until somebody comes up with a propulsion system superior to duct taping an M80 to a tin can space exploration is not feasible.

So do you think we just have the USS Enterprise with Scotty manning the engine room ready to go to Mars? Aye kin give ye no more an Warp 5 Captain. :-)

[Finny]

Here's the deal. The nation that has technological dominance in space, will have military dominance on the planet. Now you can sit around and let Chinese and Russian governments do it while private industry here just blows millions on colorful marketing that blows sunshine up patoots, or we can elect a candidate who seeks to either fix NASA or create a reasonable alternative, and lean into meeting the future prepared to maintain dominance in space.

NASA is awful right now, but that can be fixed. In an endeavor such as space exploration, especially considering that the nation that dominates space WILL have military/defensive/offensive dominion in the world, means that yes, this is one area where indeed government should be involved.

I like Ted Cruz's take on it, myself. As for the idea that private industry needs to bring forth space exploration, the only chance of them being able to do it profitably would be for a guy like Cruz to come along and annihilate all the government agencies that today make it a losing proposition.

Take your USS Enterprise with Scotty snark, sit on it, and rotate. :-)