Moon Base I

[HARDCORE]

President Bush has called for a Moon base to serve as a jumping off point for ?Missions to Mars? and beyond (Asteroid Belt etc.)! The President has also called for the abandonment of the Space Shuttle system by the end of the decade!?

Granted, the Moon would make an ideal launching platform for deep-space exploration, but the Shuttle Program is still (just about) the only way to transport sizeable elements of the new ?International Space Station? into orbit!

Now the President has declared that our commitment to said space station is completed, but I disagree with this analogy totally! Repair parts, ready transport of crews and supplies, space rescues, and yes even a repair station in space, all keep the Space Station a necessity for some time to come!!

Granted again - we must move on, but as the main depository of humanity is still here on Terra Firma, we must also retain the means of looking downward, as well as outward!

VERITAS