In article ,
Fred J. McCall wrote:
Note that if NASA figures are to be believed, it would cost MORE now
(in constant dollars) to put a couple men on the Moon than it cost us
the first time we did it.

Even stipulating that's true -- and I see there's some disagreement --
that means it would cost *NASA* more to do it now than then. Which is not
too surprising, given the sad state of today's NASA.

Getting to LEO has become cheaper (although not as much cheaper as one
would expect) because LEO is a commercially viable place and because
we were putting stuff there for a long time.

Actually, it's GSO that's the commercially viable place. Non-government
interest in LEO is slight at the moment.

And interestingly enough, getting to low lunar orbit is no more difficult
than getting to GSO. When it comes to getting to the Moon -- as opposed
to doing things there -- Moon-specific systems basically become important
only for the last few kilometers of the trip.
--
"Think outside the box -- the box isn't our friend." | Henry Spencer
-- George Herbert |