In 1961, President Kennedy challenged the nation to go to the Moon, and Apollo 11 reached the target in 1969, eight years later. Today, after more than thirty years of apathy and mismanagement by the U.S. Government, President Bush challenged NASA to get back to the moon by 2015, twelve years in the future. According to the AP article, this was part of a vote of confidence in Sean O’Keefe, the man who’s been administering NASA since before the Columbia breakup. Would it be a vote of confidence in Bill Gates if the Microsoft shareholders in 2003 gave him a decade to bring a PC to market meeting the specs of the original ’286? Would the chairman of Ford think it a vote of confidence if told to roll out some big family sedans with no smog controls, no mileage standards, no air bags or and no consumer electronics within the next decade? I kind of think that in both cases the “mandate” would be a huge slap in the face. I want to see a return to manned space exploration as much as anyone, but this is just pathetic.

One Response to “To The Moon”

1. Howling Point | Dove in the shallow end one too many times. says:

   October 24, 2007 at 9:46 pm

   [...] then NASA apparantly can. At least I hope so. People need real challenges to move forward, not silly returns to past glory. Chuck posted this on Monday, September 19, 2005 at  6:10 pm.      [...]