Jeb wrote:

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:krlNb.68069$I06.307311@attbi_s01...
I think Bush is comatose. You see him as a genius. Therefore one of us
is
a
fool and I think that you are it.

No, he's no genius. But he does have that "vision thing" when it comes
to space exploration -- something this nation (and the world) is sorely
lacking.

Now it'll be up to your kind to kill the dream again.

When asked about the environment Bush said he was planning to visit it one
day.

Forgive me for jumping in sideways here, as my newsreader (server???)
isn't providing me with all there is, but:

In a discussion I had with my father one evening shortly after Bush
decided we're going back to the moon, it was mentioned that the reason
wasn't so much that Bush wants to go there, or has any vision. The reason
was that there was some country that has developed its own space program
and if there /is/ another moon race, we can't be any other than first to
get there. Of course, the moon is a pretty big place, but it's a lot
smaller than mother Earth. Now, if another country gets to the moon
first, if we're not right there on their heels, we'll fall behind...
other countries get control of the moon, and have an excellent view of
more than they should, with an excellent spot from which,
hypothetically of course, to launch a missile attack if they wanted.

Of course, that's just /one/ scenario, and it may be way off line. BUT:
I think the point is that there is something more than just a President
who's off on his own little cloud. I think there is a behind-the-curtain
reason for going to the moon. Regardless, if any national entity makes a
shot for the moon, our nation has to be right with them to remain in a
position of power, and that's all any of this is really about, is power.

That's my view, anyway. Frankly, I couldn't care less if we go or not.
If we're ever going to get off this planet in a semi-permanent sense,
we'll need a base somewhere, and it's a lot easier to build on Luna Firma
than it will be to build a satellite base with a decaying orbit. Then
again, it will be further away and be more costly to service, but at least
its orbit won't crash it into the atmosphere anytime in the next several
millenia.

My 2 cents.
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