Conquering Space

Since I was a kid I have hoped that humans would establish colonies beyond the earth. In the 1960s I was convinced -- and still am -- that humans will probably have an all-out nuclear war and make earth uninhabitable, so it is urgent to land an Adam & Eve somewhere else with enough infrastructure to survive on their own.

Sadly, this escape valve for humanity has now closed down: the US has stopped its moon mission.

Here's a bit from a Robert X. Cringely posting giving the bare facts:

Where NASA goes other space agencies will follow (the Europeans, Indians, even the Russians, possibly leaving only the Chinese still headed to the Moon). The Moon is out as a destination, considered by some as too hard and others as too boring. Over the next two years we will see a serious drop-off in interest expressed by various groups (like the Google Lunar X-Prize effort).

This has happened before: back in 1990s everybody was into Mars missions (NASA, other government agencies and private groups). When NASA lost interest in Mars around 2001-03 and turned to Moon other nations followed.

On one hand this pending announcement is terribly disappointing. There is a very high chance that we will see an end to U. S. human spaceflight within the next few years. But it was probably inevitable. NASA is too screwed up to do anything else without a major restructuring and that would require spending too much Presidential capital in this terrible economy.

My Moon mission, of course, is still on.

I like Cringely's spirit (he's competing for the Google X-prize). Too bad there aren't more like him.

Also, I'll be satisfied if the Chinese establish a moon base. It isn't my preference, but I'm happy so long as some humans can get a toehold elsewhere.