"We can now send our small robots with their modest needs anywhere in the solar system. To a large extent we have done so, even landing on some of those Jupiter moons that Galileo was punished for seeing.

This is cheaper and far more interesting than watching bozos in diapers play golf on the Moon."


Its an old argument and it was even used often in the 60's. Why send some "bozo in diapers" when we could send a robot or some type of "lander?"

How old are you John and do you really remember the space program? In the minds of the general public, the thing that really drove the program was those bozos you refer to. Sputnik was a frightening at first but from that point on nobody cared about things where ther were no men involved. Dogs and chimps were entertaining but Gagarin became a Soviet Hero with day long ceremonies on the Square. Alan Shepard rode a cannonball lob shot for a short 300 miles and got a ticker tape parade in NYC and a medal from JFK!

There have been very successful unmanned projects but like Tom Wolfe said in "THe Right Stuff"............No bucks and no Buck Rogers..........and we were willing to pay for Buck Rogers! Nobody really gave two shits about lunar probes or anything else that didn't have a man with it. The thrill of "being there" even in such a vicarious manner was all important.

Just my opinion maybe, but to the general public, I think it still is.


Spaw