2018? In 1961 John Kennedy promised the Moon "before this decade
is out." From a standing start, America was on the moon in seven
years. Now, after 44 years of "space progress," it's gonna take
twice as long?

Although on the surface that seems strange, it's not. America now
fritters away over half of its annual expenditures on "entitlements."
There is simply no way we could afford to put the emphasis on an
Apollo-type effort anymore.

So, we'll have to do it "on the cheap" this time -- which is okay.

What are we looking for? NASA says they'll find
water, hydrogen and "valuable commodities." On the Moon? Go on!
Maybe someone takes that seriously, but he's not writing this
column. We've got robots on Mars right now. Put a few of them
on the moon. They don't break for lunch, or complain about the
cold nights, and they live on sunshine. Space exploration with
humans is about over.

That's crazy. Humanity's future is *not* on this planet. While it may
be premature for us to be taking the first steps off this planet -- I
think history will prove that Apollo was "a bridge too far" -- our
departure from Earth is as inevitable as was our migration to the "New
World" over 500 years ago.

The moon, then Mars, then the stars. Von Braun, Clarke and Asimov were
right -- they were just ahead of his time.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"