One cheer for the President's space plan

Quick take on Bush's space initiative -- Evaluating a space proposal, we should look for vision, timetable, and funding. On this basis, I can say, "One cheer for the President's space plan." The goals and ambitions are laudable, leading to one cheer. The timetable is a joke, and the funding is a joke. This plan could touch off a space race, and in that case, the plan is one of how to lose a space race. (A serious version of this plan would say, "Mars by 2020. NASA gets an immediate 60% raise in funding, with two more raises in 2010 and 2015.") The President, while getting deserved credit for vision, should fix the timetable and funding in his plan. Absent that, we might conclude that the first human on Mars will be Chinese or Russian. Under this plan, they could beat us to Mars with 15 years to spare!
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John Kusumi
Email: john@...