> My generation was supposed to be having kids on the moon, now it doesn't even look like my grandkids will be able to even visit there.

As I once read, "By the year 2000, we'll all be living on the Moon and eating space cake". And yet, barely 10 men have walked on the Moon.

> Don't give me this "But people are starving on Earth, we should spend money on that instead!" Do you think the money that continually gets cut from the space program goes to feed homeless people? If you do, you're naive as hell. It goes to the Pentagon, where all the money goes. We need to cut some off their piece of the pie and give it to NASA. Or even better, to hell with NASA, lets withdraw from that stupid UN space treaty that basically says nobody can own anything in space and let private corporations colonize the moon. Private industry isn't going to the moon if they can't own the mineral rights to the lands they build on.

My main argument in favour of space sciences is the huge amount of good it can do the Earth. As one example, put all the "dirty" industries in orbit, or on the Moon, so they can't polute anything.

Oh, and it's only governments who are forbidden from claiming extra-terrestrial terretory. Private individuals and companies may do so. Indeed, Lunar plots are being sold by George Hope, a Californian, though his claim to own the Moon is shoddy, to say the least.

Overall, though, I agree with you completely. We need to get people out there colonising other worlds. It's the next logical step.

winter"And you can't even get space cake yet"mute