Why would we spend an estimated $104 billion (that’s billion with a ‘B’) to go back to a dead world when ours is dying? It seems no one can come up with a compelling reason for NASA to repeat the "been there- done that" Apollo project of the 60’s and 70’s that President Bush has envisioned. In fact, we have been told by NASA to think of this as "Apollo on steroids."Yep, this ill advised and uninspired platitude (yawn) is essentially the very same space vehicle architecture of the 60’s- only a bit beefier. That says it all. There is really nothing new here. If you want to experience the buzz of this cold war relic anew, I would recommend a great book (at a fraction of the $104 billion that it would cost otherwise) Apollo 11: The NASA Mission Reports by Robert Godwin. It truly is a spectacular book, complete with a double sided CD Rom with lots of raw footage of most aspects of the adventure, allowing you to relive the heady days when we trumped the Commies in the space race and brought us such tangible benefits as Tang- the last time around.
And speaking of saving a bundle, when has NASA ever been under...