Once You've Been First, It

You Need Propellants To Accelerate Toward Mars, Then To Decelerate At Mars, Again To Re-accelerate From Mars To Earth, And Finally To Decelerate Back At Earth. Accordingly, The Mass Of These Required Propellants, In Short, Drives Our Need For Innovative Launch Vehicles.

It Was Designed To Have An Impact On The Stalemate Over Mutually Assured Destruction With The Soviet Union. Us Reaching The Moon Convinced Gorbachev And Other Leaders That The Soviet Union Couldn't Compete With The U.s., So They Revised Their Agenda. But People Have Short Memories.

I Think Both The Space Shuttle Program And The International Space Station Program Have Not Really Lived Up To Their Expectations.

Does It Make Sense For The U.s. To Expend Hundreds Of Billions Of Dollars To Mount A New Apollo-style Program To Return To The Moon? Or Have We Blazed That Trail? Shouldn't We Help Other Nations Achieve This Goal With Their Own Resources But With Our Help?

The Way I See It, What Is Going To Come Out Of The Moon Activities Is A Respect For U.s. Leadership.