I've often thought, too, that the hype for going to the Moon in the first place has contributed to NOT going back.

As part of the motivation for going in the first place we were told at a minimum we would learn about the origins of the Solar System and Earth.

We might even learn about the existence of life beyond the Earth.

Everything we're being told about Mars.

While I'm sure there are people who can tell us what we've learned, and it's significance, and while my "forgetter" gets more efficient as time passes, as a casual follower of those developments I'm not aware of anything discovered which wasn't already a darned sure bet. I don't know what we got out of it besides the sheer glory of the trips. And that, to me, made it worth it.

People will say the fallout from NASA made the trip worth it. Well, there's an element of truth there.

And I'd say that directly focussing on the areas from which the fallout occurred would have been more cost-effective.

So, I don't think the sexiest promises came about in the past, and I don't know what sexy reason there would be for going again.

I don't need the sex to go, but getting the public to fund it might require it.

Arf