Sensible

"The universe is probably littered with the one-planet graves of cultures which made the sensible economic decision that there's no good reason to go into space--each discovered, studied, and remembered by the ones who made the irrational decision." -Randall Munroe

     You'll never walk on the moon. I suppose it's a sensible decision that has been made to end NASA's moon program, and instead, pour money into projects of bigger engines and machines to churn up the moon and Mars into useable rocket fuel. Obama called for a complete stop, not a delay, but a cancellation for NASA’s Constellation program, all the work of rockets and spacecraft of the past four years. His "bold new initiative” has no destination, or time frame, or human exploration. NASA will no longer create spacecraft, but will act more as an advisory committee. 

    The Space Race was expensive, competitive, and yet, inspiring. It was America. It was bold exploration, radical new ideas. It was beautiful, magical, and held all of the nation breathless. Brilliant new technologies. Today, we are dead, today, technology isn't new, it's just mashed together. We know how to take pictures, we know how to use cellular technology, and putting them together isn't new. Tearing up soil for fuel isn't visionary. It's Mars, the red planet, childhood dreams of aliens and spaceships of cardboard boxes and pots and pans. Not fuel to be ripped out at our disposal.