I don't think you get political traction from the Moon's romance. Most people have a disconnect with the Moon as seen from Earth and the Moon visited by Apollo astronauts.
The Moon's surface is as exciting to most people as some place in Kansas at night with floodlights on with a foot of volcanic ash covering everything.
That Mars is a little red dot most of the time is of little importance in the surface appearance game. Mars looks like some place in the desert southwest at perpetually sunset for ~12 hours without the sagebrush of coarse.
It wasn't only that the astronauts made the exploration of the Moon routine and tedious it was that the Moon's landscape was boring. You can argue there are exciting place to visit on the Moon, but non compare with some of the bizarre Martian landscapes... Besides the possiblity of life is a serious plus for Mars...even for the non scientific public.
Space/Science » in reply to The Moon
re: The Moon or Mars
The whole thread (50 posts)
- The Moon
- Strategic Choices
- re: The Moon or Mars
- re: The Moon or Mars their changing perceptions
- re: Flags and Footprints or finding the orgins of life itself?
- re: This is a red herring: It's not an either or question. We can both look for Martian life and Explore the surface with Humans.
- Amazing, isn't it!
- Romanticism Is A Poor Basis For Making Major Resource Commitments