I do not deny Apollo's greatness, but I do not think we should resort to crossing the seas on rafts either. We know rafts work, Apollo proves that, along with it's forebears, Russian and American, however, we should be working on a canoe. The shuttle got us closer to the canoe. If we assume, that the guys who built Apollo and the shuttle were truly smart people, then, merely rebuilding either really doesn't serve to extend our reach into space very far nor reveal that we've learned anything significant over the past 35 years. The way to do it better, is to do the things we have not done yet. Maybe Kennedy did have it right after all. We should be doing things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard. ESAS is the easy way out, and no one can tell me that we've learned or improved on any necessary technology by rehashing Apollo. In fact, a water landing if that's what they are thinking about is tantamount to failure of ESAS, Orion, Constellation et al. <br /><br />Let's examine why we are impressed with Rutan, Musk, and Bigelow. They are attempting to do what has not be done before. They are explorers, each in his own way attacking a piece of a very tough problem from a new perspective. Bigelow builds it, Musk flies it, and Rutan generates high awareness to encourage greater investments. I can't imagine what the three collaborating together in a few years might actually accomplish. In the mean time, NASA is going to spend the next decade plus trying to rebuild the Apollo program, abandoning or reducing interest in ISS in the mean time. What does that mean? Realistically, Mars is not even on the radar until after 2030 at the earliest if then. The truth of the matter is that the Moon and Mars are not going anywhere. We are in no real rush to send a raft to Mars or the Moon. We can do it right this time.<br /><br />So what do I think? NASA should forget about going back to the Moon or Mars. We are not going to get to Mars for another two <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>