Easterbrook is trying to figure out “what possible reason–other than science illiteracy at the White House–there could be for George W. Bush to announce a plan to build a Moon base. Manned exploration of Mars is even crazier.”
One parting thought on the practicality of Mars. Spirit, the rover that just landed there, weighs half a ton. Spirit cost $410 million to build and place on Mars–and it’s about the size of a refrigerator, and does not come back. Mars-mission proponents want to send something to the Red Planet the size of an office building, and bring it back.
What NASA needs right now is not an absurd, bank-breaking grand mission: It needs to spend a decade researching a safer lower-cost alternative to the space shuttle.
And why might George W. Bush endorse a Moon base or Mars mission? Either he’s a science illiterate surrounded by advisors who are science illiterates, or it’s a blank check for aerospace contractors.