"Fred J. McCall" wrote in message
...
Ramon F Herrera wrote:

:
:The question is not whether we explore or not - we always will.
:
:The question is when.
:
:What's the rush? After all, it is not like the moon and Mars are going
:anywhere. Last time I checked, they have no plans to relocate or
:disappear.
:

And the answer becomes 'never', because 'later' is always good
enough...

The key is to create a program which can fit within NASA's budget. Ares
broke the budget. A big HLV is always going to cost a lot to own and
operate because the flight rate is so pitifully low. The key is to enable
big missions with existing vehicles. We shouldn't have to keep throwing
away all of our current launch vehicle assets every time a new mission is
proposed. Saturn V was a dead end. Shuttle was a dead end. I believe Ares
I and Ares V would have been yet another dead end. It's time to stop going
down dead ends.

Jeff
--
"Take heart amid the deepening gloom
that your dog is finally getting enough cheese" - Deteriorata - National
Lampoon