Another thing too...

While all of those who look to the skies, or are fascinated by science fiction (and good ol' space opera,) are disappointed, technology is all too often driven forward by war.

The Race to the Moon provided a "conflict" that had no real human cost. (Yes, there were accidents, but more people working for NASA have died driving to and from work....) Much of the technology we enjoy today stems from solving problems needed to go to the moon.

I imagine an effort in terraforming part of Mars would create huge leaps in eco-sciences on earth. That's a huge loss, the head start we would have had by this time if we had been on Mars by the '80s, which would have been "easy" if we'd just kept on spending on space tech.

And though I'm mostly preaching to the choir, the cost is miniscule compared to what we have spent on the military on "wasted" projects. Not to mention the payback in taxes collected from new and old companies purveying new technologies and the jobs they created, has more than made up for the costs.

But, without an "enemy" to vie against in space, we in the USA are too short-sighted to see the long term benefits.

So... let's cheer on the ESA and the Chinese and hope they prove to be a "threat" and get our asses back into the captains chair.

"Make it so."