McCain would like to see a man on Mars

Breitbart.com ^ | June 6, 2008

[Malone LaVeigh]

Presumptive Republican White House nominee John McCain said Thursday he would like to see a manned mission to Mars as part of a "better set of priorities" for NASA that would better engage the public.

[maggief]

Phone home.

[Beowulf9]

totally agree.

[gridlock]

McCain would like to see a man on Mars...

...However, President Bush doesn't want to go!

[RightWhale]

There is a program already that includes sending a manned mission to Mars and building a base on the moon. That is what NASA is doing now while finishing up the old Shuttle/ISS program.

[messierhunter]

Bingo, right on the money. And the inevitable spinoffs from the technology created to get us there would be helpful too. So many things came out of apollo that are now part of our everyday lives that we just take it for granted now. Water purification technology used to kill bacteria in the apollo spacecraft's water supply is now used in community water supplies and water towers. Cool suits used inside apollo space suits are now used by nuclear reactor techs and kids with hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia to keep them from overheating and dying in hot weather.

They say necessity is the mother of invention. Manned spaceflight brings the most demanding necessities and so it demands the most creative inventions. Some of those inventions can answer problems down here in ways we never would have otherwise thought of. The beauty of Bush's vision for space exploration, which McCain wants to continue as planned, is that we don't have to spend a significant portion of our budget all at once like we did in the Apollo days. By taking the steps gradually over a longer period of time, we don't need to drastically increase government spending to get there.

The only alternative is to ditch our plans to go to the moon and mars, even though we're already starting to build the hardware for the next generation spacecraft. Obama wants to do just that. So instead of the money we spend generating a big demand for domestic engineers and innovation, we'll be tossing just about the same amount of money into a new program to redo what the shuttle has already done, but with fewer payload possibilities.

[Oldpuppymax]

To Mars?? Where the heck does Juan think all of those Cook County voters come from every four years?

[messierhunter]

Has everyone forgotten about Bush’s vision for space exploration speech? Made shortly after Columbia was destroyed? Bush does want to go, and in fact the plans are already in motion as we speak.

[Names Ash Housewares]

“Has everyone forgotten about Bush’s vision for space exploration speech? Made shortly after Columbia was destroyed? Bush does want to go, and in fact the plans are already in motion as we speak.”

That would require people to actually be informed and not go off half cocked.

It’s a long term goal. And it is a worthy goal.
And it’s building block steps along the way, stpes that include replacing shuttle with a safer vehicle, getting us back to the moon to stay, then possibly an asteroid visit, then Mars.

Again, if people would take the time to learn the details, like they do on other topics here like global warming. Maybe they would get it.

Reagan also wanted a strong space program.

McCain is right, we must be outward bound.

The nations that lead on the frontier dictate the course of human history.

China knows that too.

[Radl]

These politicians are good for a laugh!

[dforest]

Perhaps McCain could be the first to go....uh...sometime prior to the convention.

[reagan_fanatic]

"GET YOUR ASS TO MARS!!"

[Names Ash Housewares]

McCain “gets it”.
Obama doesn’t.

Great nations LEAD on the frontiers. Not follow. Not let other nations explore for them.

McCain also understands the years of a gap between shuttle and the new Orion vehicle, leave the US with no direct access to space, and relying on the Russians for that is not wise to say the least.

[MoreGovLess]

I can think of *lots* of people I’d like on Mars: I’d start with the Clinton and Bush crime families and go from there!
Harry Reid, check.
Nancy Pelosi, check
Howard Dean, check
Rush, O’Reilly and the rest of the self-serving blowhards, check

Hard vacuum would do them good!(Just kidding, of course)

[snowrip]

McCain can send himself.

[darth]

Hey, there is a significant block of voters who support our exploration of space. Obama is vehemently AGAINST THE SPACE PROGRAM. My ex, a Democrat, will vote AGAINST Obama for this reason alone. The land rush for the Solar System will begin in my lifetime. Great nations such as Russia, China, and others will vie with us for the ownership of the planets. Its the New World without pesky natives.

[Herakles]

Good!

I suggest they send America's anointed Blue Blood (cough, cough) Families, the Clinton's and the Bush's; they have had great experience screwing up America the last 20 years; now they can do Mars.

Maybe they can take those other Blue Bloods, the Oxford, Harvard, Yale, Princeton crowd - you know, the great management experts of the Soviet Union economic turn around, the sub prime screwup, the energy mess, and the bang up job of managing the latest Iraq war!

[Walmartian]

McCain would like to see a man on Mars about a dog.

[cruise_missile]

I imagine most of the nay sayers would rather see their money go to reparations for what old Granddaddy did. Yeah that is a much better place for your money to go. I think this show some leadership and foresight.

[usmcobra]

McCain has finally figured out the perfect Immigration plan....

SEND THE MEXICANS TO MARS!

[TommyDale]

We should send McCain to Mars. But he would just crash the space vehicle.