Apollo on Steroids

NASA officially unveiled it's plans for a return to the moon yesterday. I have conflicting feelings about the idea. Space exploration/colonization is a natural extension of man's journey into the frontiers. On the one hand, it's hugely expensive and we are in a period of lots of government spending (Iraq, Katrina, Iraq, Medicare, Iraq, Bridges to Nowhere, Iraq) and revenues that aren't keeping up (tax cuts for the wealthy, tax cuts for the wealthy).

Above all, space exploration is just really cool. And I think that is ultimately why we even have a space program. So, not surprisingly, NASA has provided us with some rally great graphics to show off how really cool going back to the moon really will be.

Check out this site for all the good space coolness NASA is proposing. I particularly recommend the video and slideshow.

The one thing I noticed was how similar the proposed spacecraft look compared to the original Apollo moonships. NASA admits this with one official saying, "Think of it as Apollo on steroids."