Re: We certainly need to get the lander program back at full throttle
Then we need to skip the sample return mission and start a serious move toward a manned interplanetary spacecraft design.
Get mankind in the near vicinity of the Planet Mars, Venus, and the Asteroids and then begin a serious sampling program that would eventually involve a manned landing on Mars' moons, several asteroids, and even the Planet itself.
This would be the way to get the most and best science from a program that would be the most flexible, the least cost, and the most fruitfull in creating a permenant manned presence in space.
Scott (JMHO)