oker59,<br /><br />Over the years, I have come to have very mixed feelings about the Apollo program. On the one hand, it was captivating, exciting, uplifting, and motivating. On the other hand, it was a foolish stunt, which stretched our technology to the limit, and did not set the stage, or prepare for anything. I think personally that the Apollo program set back our off planet growth by many years, as it leapfrogged that intermediate steps that have classically been taken when exploring new territory, which are establishing a base in the new territory, then exploring that territory, then building an advance base from which to explore further. The space station is a critical element in space exploration, a transfer point from the aerodynamic, high-thrust vehicles needed to traverse the energy barrier of the atmosphere, and the low-thrust spaceships needed for traveling to other places, and landing there.<br /><br />All of the carefully laid plans of the space exploration community were thrown out the window, as the rush to meet the deadline precluded anything but work on Apollo. And the Apollo program divided people over space exploration needlessly, by squandering resources in its reckless dash to plant the flag. Instead of a slow, steady progression of achievements, building interest in the space program, we committed to a goal that was far beyond our ability to capitalize on, which made many in the public opposed to any kind of space travel.<br /><br />But the benefits of the Apollo program to the country are beyond measure, just from the development of the microprocessor alone. This device has revolutionized our culture, science, our ways of manipulating the physical world, and our ways of measuring that world. So, in the end, perhaps it all balances out. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> The secret to peace of mind is a short attention span. </div>