Quote:Well, China did send their first man up into Space in 2003. And NASA hasn't sent a Man back to the Moon, since 1972 with Apollo 17.

 

True, but we've launched many many people into space since the last Apollo mission.  James Michener was an historical novelist who wrote in the novel Space about the strong view among many scientists in the 50s and '60s that sending man to the moon was a waste of time and resources.  I happen to agree.  Their argument was based on the fact that we knew we could send people to walk it with enough resources and effort - it was a definite reachable goal.  What they wanted to concentrate on was sending people to Mars.  That's the true giant leap for mankind.  However, geopolitics steered the agenda rather than true scientific ambition.  Had our national resources and fickle passions not been distracted by Apollo, I thoroughly believe that man would have an outpost on Mars today.

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