Ya know, weightlessness is all well and good, and the view of earth
from ISS is really nice, but after about a week of it you get to
thinking "Is this all we get for a billion dollar shuttle flight to
ISS"? I happen to think ISS is a good thing and we oughta keep it but
for my money the moon is a heck of a lot more interesting than ISS and
potentially more useful than Mars.
So, it seems our disagreement is about money then. However, if you
want to be certain that you make it to the moon AND have a serious
manned capability to show for it AND a serious cargo lifter to show for
it, I'd bet on NASA before underfunded pvt people. I like pvt space
efforts but NASA happens to be closer than any pvt company to achieving
this.
I'd like to see NASA stop doing stupid things that undercut pvt efforts
while achieving nothing. NASA should not ever compete with pvt
enterprise and should also use pvt if they truly have the capability.
Space vaporware does not impress me.
Going to the moon generates enthusiasm among young people while just
going into orbit gets a sort of "is that all" look from them. My kids
all ask why people dont go to the moon anymore but never ask about
orbiting the earth. People see the moon as a real goal while they see
orbit as just a part of the trip.