Re: Back to the moon? When?

Erich Kohl wrote:
Hi everyone,

First and foremost, let me just say that I do believe that the United
States was actually on the moon.

However, I am in a debate with someone who wants to know why it's
taking us (or anyone else for that matter) so long to go back there.
After all, if it was done once before with 1960's technology and
know-how, what's causing the delay in the expedition this time?

My theory is that it must have something to do with politics and
budget, combined with the fact that it might not be as high of a
priority as it once was when the U.S. was in an overt space race with
the Soviet Union.

Any enlightenment that can be offered will help, because I'm not sure
how else to steer my argument.

The reason is budget. The total amount of money is comparable but it is being spread out over sixteen years rather than eight. That forces Constellation to do things serially that Apollo could do in parallel. Constellation will also be a much smaller percentage of total NASA spending than Apollo was, because NASA is continuing the shuttle program ($4 billion per year through 2010) and the ISS program ($2 billion per year through at least 2016).
.

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