[ggekko]

Ping.

The entire Space Program needs to be rethought from top to bottom. As has been noted since the Columbia crash, Lyndon Johnson set up the Space program to be a "Marshall Plan for the South" . This mentality has led to budget monstrosoties like the Space Shtuttle which are impossible to get rid of because the spending is strategically spread across key Congressional districts.

The current NASA administration has its eyes on developing nuclear engines for space travel. These engines are key enabling technology that will make near space travel much more feasible. NASA should be encouraged to pursue this line of development and slowly euthanize the money-eating shuttle.

[DoughtyOne]

I don't know much about nuclear propulsion. I'll have to look up some articles and get a better understanding of it.

[ARCADIA]

Nuclear engines are only a part of it. To begin with we are going to have to come up with a worthwhile objective. 100+ repetitive missions are boring no matter how successful. The objective shouldn't be to spin our wheels, or spin around the planet. Instead we should be funding those bold steps which will eventually lead to the commercial development of space.

BTW, this author fails to observe that the space race is back on. That China has stepped up to the launch pad and seems poised to commit to the next evolution in space exploration and conquest. We have to decide whether the US will be there, whether we believe that we have a future in space, or whether we will remain with feet firmly grounded on earth until we decay and rot.

[Smittie]

Can you imagine what trouble we would be in if the shuttle would have had nuclear fuel onboard?