This Is Inspiring

So someone had the bright idea to try to ask NASA how much the mission to Mars is going to cost. NASA's answer? Don't know and don't want to know yet.

For some strange reason, I'm guessing that beyond the general idea of sending a man to Mars, NASA probably has no idea how they're even going to begin to approach this challenge.

I'm sorry to say it, but at some point NASA has got to quite thinking in abstracts and start setting limitations on the scope of the project. I would even be so bold as to venture that a good place to start would be to set a date. From there we can start working backwards to determine what technology exists that would be useful and also what technology needs to be developed and by when.

At that point we could start having real discussions with the Russians about how they might be able to contribute (As they want to and as they should. We need to tap this willing and able resource).

NASA needs to accept that the Mars mission will not be the blank check, cutting edge program that they fantasize about. It's going to have to be a practical program, gently pushing the boundaries, rather than pushing them farther than imaginable. The mission to Mars will be special, not because of the sheer magnitude of it, like the Apollo missions, but simply because it is a taking our exploration to a new level.

The mission to Mars is a worthy and admirable goal. It is one worth pursuing. But it needs to have some definition besides "Going to Mars." Effective goals contain an element that makes them specific and makes them measureable. Our current statement of the goal is too vague. It needs to be better defined.

Of course, you do realize that once we're successful in this venture, as my father points out, the feminists and trial lawyers will be getting together to force a mission to put a woman on Venus. It just wouldn't be fair otherwise....