Many many years ago I attended a Goddard Memorial Sympoisum where Bob made one of his first public presentations on Mars Direct. Myself and a good friend were very impressed - it really seemed the way to go -

Of course, I've grown up a lot since then, and in particular I have come to understand some of the realities of space flight a whole lot better than I did then -

It's not that I'm opposed to manned Mars flight. Far from it. It's just that there are more other very pressing needs, the major one being protection against asteroid and cometary impact. This has got to be done first.

Will I try to help Bob get money to continue research on his Martian fuel production scheme. Yes. Will I work for long range Mars rovers on a private basis. Yes. Will I participate in these "let's play Mars" fantasies? A most emphatic "NO".

EP