the klog

I had no idea NASA was even thinking about this, but they just got Senate approval to buy Russian Soyuz capsules for servicing the ISS. They still need House approval. It's just so sad. I never blogged about NASA's recent Moon decision, either: you know, their new plan to spend over a decade getting back to the moon, when it took us less than ten years to do it.... over 40 years ago. Um, wow?

I mean, I actually agree with people who say that there's little scientific value in human spaceflight, so ferchrissakes if you're going to do it, why can't we actually send people somewhere they've never been before? You know, actually use human spaceflight for inspiration, the one thing it's good for? I'm all for a Mars mission, but if they're going back to the Moon, then I'd be with the people saying that money would be better spent on robotic missions. Spending more time to go back to somewhere we've already been is not going to be that inspirational!

Somehow, I feel that the first person to step foot on Mars is not going to be an American, and just as our "victory" in the space race was symbolic, that, too, will be symbolic.