I don't think that the US is going to split apart any time soon, but, just in case, those of us from inland states ought to get our fill of beaches before going to Florida requires a visa.

Patricia,
Well, this is an area that you may not have all the facts. No matter. First of all, if we look at what NASA spends in one year as a finite moment in time, then we get stuck in not seeing what benefits that we (humans) will get long after you and I are dead. I like to think forward and not just in the here and now. This small amount we are investing today in NASA (less then what AIG has gotten) is an investment in the future of our children and grand children, as much as improving their education, their health care and their safety. Simply because we don’t know what the future holds for us is no excuse to hide from it, or use cost to get there as an excuse to fear it.

Also, are you aware that Mars can be terraformed? The process would take several decades, but the science is all in place for it to happen. When we start to terraform Mars, we will also be finding ways to cut the greenhouse gasses here on Earth, because in order to terraform Mars, you have to create greenhouse gasses on purpose. Think of the possibilities of having another habitable planet a tiny distance away (in astronomical terms) for the expansion of knowledge and science that can help us find new ways to keep this economical issue from happening again. The wealth of knowledge cannot even be fathomed in today’s world. There is no shame in failure, but there is in failure to try. I want us to try.

Just some facts. Mars is about one fourth the size of Earth and has 1/3 the gravity. The atmosphere is made up of CO2 and there is more CO2 and water locked up in the poles and in the permafrost. That will be needed to help build an atmosphere that will support plant growth, while the oxygen locked in the iron oxide on the surface will help add oxygen to the atmosphere, and give us iron for building.

The planet’s surface is equal to the land mass surfaces here on Earth. The day is 24h, 36 m, 22.8 s long and is has a tilt on it axis that would give us seasons. The largest volcano in the solar system is on Mars, five times taller than Mt. Everest, with a base the size of Montana, and Mars has a canyon that is so big that if it was on Earth, it would split the US in half. These are just some of the facts I have memorized about the God of War. It shows that I know what awaits us when we get there, but the best part of what waits us cannot be measured in dollars and cents. I support expanding our knowledge and the money spent on NASA. And, more needs to be spent there.

But, coupled with the USSR's massive military spending, especially the Soviet-Afghan war, the space program helped to drain vital resources away from the Soviet civilian economy. Result: a tragic deterioration of quality of life for its citizens that sparked a growing outrage. By the 1980s, the USSR was in such deep economic trouble that it had to cut back its space program. But the move came too late to stop the downward spiral. After the USSR collapsed in 1989 ...

It bears mentioning that another major factor that bankrupted the USSR is that Reagan played chicken with them by instigating a crank-up of the nuclear arms race. He is considered a conservative hero today because his strategy worked: he literally out-spent them into bankruptcy.

But Reagan also set a precedent for the US, that a Republican administration would pursue massive deficit military spending in order to achieve an international goal. Every GOP president has followed this precedent (GHW Bush #41 being the least offender). This, plus the non-prevention of the current economic crisis by a GOP administration, nixes the GOP as "the party of fiscal responsibility." True, the build-up of the current national debt can be traced all the way back to the Vietnam War, but it ballooned like a python eating a piglet during the Reagan years.

Now, a technical nit-pick:

Think tanks have all kinds of plans for the Moon, including solar power stations that could operate 24/7, since the Moon keeps the same face turned to the Sun at all times.

Someone at that think tank needs to buy a set of good binoculars and stare at the moon each night for a month. The moon keeps the same face turned toward the Earth and any fixed point on its surface experiences about 14 days of daylight followed by about 14 days of night.

It would probably be a better plan to put two or three of those solar power plants in geosynchronous orbit around the Earth; the orbits could possibly be on a tilt so that the Earth's umbral shadow would miss the plant servicing the Earth's night side. It would still travel through the Earth's penumbral shadow, but the night side of the Earth hopefully might have a corresponding drop in demand for energy compared to its daytime demand.

I'm all for further expoloration of the moon. It's the ultimate Green project.

That is if you like mountains of cheese.

I'm a starry eyed explorer sort, who looks out into the heavens and says we must go thre, and also into the seas and says we must go there and well, generally, I support this sort of work.

And I disagree that surplus should be used on such -- that's a very simple way of viewing the economics of budget surplus and leakage, and how those numbers are arrived at.

The budget for NASA today is still less than one tenth what it was when we went to the moon. The benefits of research and development required to fund those things has an impact far greater than merely jobs and economic boosting.

Regardless of how we get there, at six and a half billion people, we ether need to engage in massive population reduction measures or find some place else.

Then again, there is a much deeper reason for my wanting us to return to the moon, and it has a religious source, and so I'll leave this post with:

Thank you for bringing this up, as the subject, regardless of how one falls in line with it, is of value.

As a use of money it is far more valuable for humanity for us to understand our oceans, ice pack melts, and carbon dioxide intrusion into deep waters. We know less about our oceans than the moon. Four fifths of our precious Earth is covered by water and 3% of it is drinkable. Placing solar panels on the moon pales to insignificance when compared to placing them in deserts.

As much as I like Star Wars I do believe we are taking a wrong direction in not better understanding the seas and the earth beneath our feet.

Thank you Patricia.