Charles Rousseaux describes the story, little discussed in the press, of the president's and Congress' visionary support for the new space age, both NASA's and the private sector's. And Ken Silber talks about the outer solar system.

[Update a couple minutes later]

Speaking of the outer solar system, here's a beautiful shot of Saturn's rings and its moon Mimas from Cassini, courtesy of NASA Watch.

I think that for honeymoon destinations, the rings will be the late twenty-first century equivalent of Niagara Falls.

"I think that for honeymoon destinations, the rings will be the late twenty-first century equivalent of Niagara Falls."

Only if it doesn't take until your first anniversary to get there ;)

"Only if it doesn't take until your first anniversary to get there ;)"

Shoot. A year in zero gravity with nothing to do? Now *that's* a honeymoon.

-S

Interesting that Rousseaux gives all the credit to Bush, Cheney, O'Keefe and DeLay.

I know when I (along with a few dozen others) went around Congress in July as part of the Moon-Mars blitz I heard a definite mix of comments. Some people said some nice things. Negative comments seemed to predominate, though. I can remember one staffer saying "I thought Karl Rove was supposed to be some kind of political genius."

I'd be very curious to find out if other kinds of lobbying (grass roots, industry) had any impact at all. There's a real point to this question. If the only reason we have the current program is because of top down support, what happens when that support goes away? As it will certainly do in four years when Bush and Cheney retire. DeLay and O'Keefe aren't going to be in office forever, either.

We need something more stable than one Presidential team's commitment. Yes, I support private sector efforts as well. But there will still be a place for government for a very long time as well.