Armstrong Urges Return to the Moon, then Mars

Neil's message is pretty much spot on.

NASA needs a firm and unwavering goal, which is exactly not what Washington has been feeding NASA for decades.

No sign that things are going to change for the foreseeable future.

It is just common sense to establish a permanent moon base first. We can then launch from there, after ships refuel on the moon. We can get used to living in outer space on a permanent basis.

During my last trip to NASA, I was told only 1/15th of NASA's budget came from congress. The rest came from patents and inventions.

I suppose necessity really is the mother of invention.

I never verified this comment and still wonder about the reported stats.It would seem some of the money would surely come from there.

I don't know where those numbers come from, but they don't come from reality. NASA gives away most of its technology - it belongs to the taxpayers after all. I suspect that what you heard was some variation on the "every dollar spent at NASA generates $7 for the economy" story, which is dubious in itself.

However, the ever faithful wikipedia tells us that A November 1971 study of NASA released by the Midwest Research Institute of Kansas City, Missouri ("Technological Progress and Commercialization of Communications Satellites." In: "Economic Impact of Stimulated Technological Activity") concluded that "the $25 billion in 1958 dollars spent on civilian space R & D during the 1958-1969 period has returned $52 billion through 1971 -- and will continue to produce pay offs through 1987, at which time the total pay off will have been $181 billion. The discounted rate of return for this investment will have been 33 percent."

In those days a high percentage of NASA spending went into R&D. After the shuttles were built, most of the NASA budget went into operations, and much less into R&D.

I had hoped that NASA would adopt the Obama plan and return to more of an R&D approach, but it seems we're doomed to support the large aerospace corporations with rocket projects that eat up the budget.

But yes - I would be thrilled to have a plan to return to the moon, or go to Mars. I would be thrilled to have any plan to do anything - as long as the plan was adequately funded, truly looked ahead technologically, and was insulated from the whims of our nation's least trusted branch of government.

A motel on the moon might be a profit maker!

Something about a Tranquility-based stay, though the words haven't quite come together yet. Working on it....