...about the possibly upcoming space announcement--from Laughing Wolf.

Is it possible to propagate this meme enough to get it on the administration's radar?

Looks like Dubbya has no intention of spelling out any endeavour to get back to the Moon according to space.com.

Well, at least not on the 17th. I especially like the last sentence in that article:

"On the other hand, I think I sense a disturbance in the force. People are seriously thinking now about why we have a space program. That's something that hasn't been thought about seriously for 30 years, and that's a good thing."

Regardless of what the actual parameters of the mission(s) might be, I still think Blake's letter is a good thing and any way we can get that point across to both the POTUS and to that interagency review committee the better off we'll be.

This administration is not known for leaks and trial balloons, which is one reason I have doubts that anything will get said soon. Yet, this is a great opportunity to get some important points raised, which is why I went ahead and did the letter.

Something may or may not be said on the 17th, or even later. But, if people want to print out my letter and mail it in, with an "I agree" letter of their own, I have no objection to such so long as my letter is not altered and it is not presented as their own work. A number of copies coming in will hit the radar, if it doesn't any other way.

Is another space megaproject really going to help anything? Is there any reason to believe that a moon base would be any different than ISS in cost overruns and opportunity cost?

One thing is certain: announcing a moon base will cause every little NASA interest group to figure out how to tie their pet project to the moon. We'll have new launcher development, nuclear engines, blah, blah, blah. The most dangerous is new launcher development, shich will help strangle still more startups in the cradle. Tying the project to nuclear engines guarantees its death when the next Democrat is elected.

It is *far* from clear that this (possible) announcement will be a good thing.

Pretty funny picture at http://spacetoday.net/ headline listings right now.

"U.S. space vision stays secret: Rumblings of big announcement not true, White House says"
Florida Today
"Return to Moon In the Works?"
Newsday
"US Considers Moon Outpost or Mars Mission"
Voice of America
"U.S. considers new moon mission"
USA Today
"No new space policy announcement imminent"
Spaceflight Now
"White House Says "Premature" To Speculate About Lunar Plans"
AFP

So, which is it ?

Andrew,
I definitely agree with your concern. I would personally be much happier with either no announcement at all or else something scaling back the entire government funded space program. But given this presidents willingness to spend money and attempt to do big things, I don't think he's going to do either of those things. So, given a program that is pure NASA or one that is a mix of NASA and everyone else, I'd prefer the later.

So does anyone know of a way to get our common views shared with that interagency commmittee? I'd be willing to make a quick, personal flight to DC if I just knew who to schmooze...

-MM