Posted on 07/11/2005 3:35:17 PM PDT by KevinDavis
In 1989, when President George H.W. Bush urged Nasa to build a base on the Moon and send astronauts to Mars, the plan was quickly suffocated by its $400bn estimated price. Now President George W. Bush wants his own Moon-to-Mars proposal to avoid the same fate. In a decision designed to head off failure, he appointed respected engineer Michael Griffin in March as Nasa's new head.
"Griffin is devoted to the goal of human space exploration, which is why he was picked for the job," says Louis Friedman, executive director of the Planetary Institute, a private group that promotes space exploration.
Mr Griffin has wasted little time focusing his attention on trying to turn the Moon-to-Mars dream into a reality. Within the next few weeks the Nasa administrator is expected to outline the specifics of the missions, which the White House spelt out only in the vaguest terms last year.
The blueprint is expected to provide details on budgets and deadlines, as well as details of the "replacement vehicle" - the spacecraft that will be designed to take astronauts to the red planet. "This is the time direction will finally be set," says John Logsdon, head of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University in Washington DC. "Our future in space depends on it."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.ft.com ...
I skimmed it really quickly, and I see that the good Dr. Park is up to his old bullsh*t.
Oh, and I also noticed the FT writer is trying to scare up a little fear with Daddy Bush's attempt at this...
If they quote Dr.Park, then it's not worth wasting time to read, I've heard his trite arguments ad-nauseum.
Just as we pay farmers not to grow crops, it would be cheaper just to pay the NASA Farmers, not to go to Mars.
They get their pay checks, and the Taxpayers save some money.
I doubt that this would be worth registering.
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