Re: Old news.
"The hard truth is that although there are many individuals and groups within NASA who would love to see a major thrust into space, the agency as a whole has really nothing to gain by it."
How about an increase in total budget? The Dept of Agriculture is a big agency, NASA could grow into a agency that make the Agriculture dept. look like small potatoes.
"So, the question you need to ask yourself is:
If NASA vanished tomorrow morning, what could we do to get people into space and explore the Solar System?"
Harass the Dept of Defense??
:)