"Scratching for Water on the Moon"

[Kitsune]

Originally posted by xoxoxoBruce
Why go to Mars? Or anywhere else for that matter.

I have a really tough time describing why I think it is important for us to explore space, but at the risk of sounding like so many low budget sci-fi flicks on television: "It's what we do."

Its human nature to explore and find out what is out there. That, and at the rate we're trashing this place, we'll need to find some other place to live one day. Maybe.

I've heard a lot of people clamoring at their outrage over how much of their precious tax dollars are being pumped into NASA to launch aging vehicles into orbit only to not return a profit each year. Even more are asking if NASA should still exist and why we should even consider sending people into space, anymore. Maybe I'm lost in some foolish dreams or maybe I live too close to the cape (we see anything they send up, even from this side of the state), but I think the space program is still fairly important.

That and you can't ignore that those things are really pretty going up. After seeing the launch below from across the intercoastal (Columbia's second to last mission), I can't say that I've ever experienced anything so awe-inspiring.