How Do We Do Grand Things In Space Again?

Trading the Moon for Mars, Buzz Aldrin, WS Journal
“The new NASA budget makes sense for many important reasons. First, the president is signaling that this agency deserves the full support of this administration and Congress, even as priorities are sorted out and other budgets are cut. Second, getting long-range space flight right requires getting near-Earth orbit perfect. Third, forestalling the moon mission in favor of perfecting the technologies that will allow us to reach Mars within some defined period ahead is sound. We should not rush it and experience an avoidable tragedy.”
To the Moon? I think not, Alice…, Miles O’Brien
“The truth is the public in general long ago stopped paying much attention to what NASA is doing in the manned space realm. There have been some spikes of interest here and there – for Hubble repair missions, to see John Glenn fly or, sadly, for the returns to flight after the accidents – but in general, it’s been a long, steady decline that really began on July 24th, 1969 – when the Columbia capsule carrying Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins splashed down in the Pacific. Let’s not forget Apollo was never built to be a sustainable program. It was all about the sprint. Is it any surprise it did not sustain public interest?”