Reply #38: I'm a complete science geek, I watched the moon landings, and I agree with Obama.

[hunter]

We knew how to get to the moon in the sixties. We knew how to build space shuttles in the seventies. We knew how to build space stations in the eighties.

This is old technology. The institutions built around these technologies are corrupt, most especially the Military Industrial Complex pigs feeding at the government trough.

When we decide to go to the moon again we must demand innovation and accountability. The existing aerospace infrastructure system can't deliver that.

Let's aim to explore the moon further cheaply, with small rockets and robots.

Let's aim for human exploration of Mars when we can do it right, when we can get there in a week or two riding big constant acceleration ion engines or some similar technology.

Going to Mars with existing chemical rockets and space station technology would be a publicity stunt, much like crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a small canoe. It wouldn't really be science.