Had they known, or admitted, the actual cost for the ISS when it was first proposed, it is very doubtful it would have ever been funded. Without the ISS where would manned space flight be today? Is there really any reason to fly the shuttle except to launch and service things like the HST? Would we be any closer to going back to the Moon, or on to Mars? I don’t think so. I don’t think there would be a manned space program at all. The shuttles would already be in museums. Manned space would be a thing of the past.

Perhaps the best use of the money would have been to develop and build a truly economical and safe single stage to orbit manned spacecraft. Then we could build a space station, or go back to the Moon, or on to Mars. With cheep safe access to space all kinds of opportunities would open up.

But now we have what we have, and we better make it work, or we won’t have anything. There has to be a compelling reason to go back to the Moon, or on to Mars that the President, Congress, and the general public will accept. That is not the case now. We here, are convinced, but not most people. An astonishing number of people don’t think we need a space program at all.