and that just doesn't seem to be in the works. NASA's current budget is about $15 billion. That's a lot of money, to be sure, but it pales in comparison to what was spent back in the 1960s during the buildup to Apollo. Heres a link to a table of NASA budgets over the past 40 years with a comparison to their percentage of total federal spending. The peak year was 1966 when the budget was $5,932,630,931 out of a total federal budget of $106,917,396,868. That's 5.5% of the entire federal budget! Adjusting those numbers using the inflation calculator from the US Department of Labor website, that works out to almost $34 billion a year in today's dollars, more than twice NASA's current budget. If we used the same percentage of the federal budget as in 1966, you're talking about $110 billion. It ain't gonna happen. The article mentions a projected 7% growth in the NASA budget. That's a lot less than the glory days of the 1960s.

New technology is nice, especially for the companies developing it. However, simply developing new technology for its own sake isn't a good idea. I remember hearing engineers dismiss simple technology ideas for the space station back in the 1980s. They were far more interested in developing new technology than in developing a space station. That mindset goes a long way towards understanding the massive overruns and delays in the ISS.

Of course, some new technology will have to be developed to accomplish bolder missions. We'll need better life support systems, avionics, new propulsion systems, EVA suits, and a lot more. All of that will need to be thoroughly tested. Some testing can be done in Earth orbit, some can be done on the lunar surface, and some on other missions such as a visit to an NEO. Testing on these shorter missions allows us to progress with a greater chance of success than going for a "Hail Mary" shot at Mars. For one thing, there's a launch window to the moon about every 28 days verses nearly two years for Mars.

There's a lot to be said for following an incremental approach. "Go Fever" has killed 3 NASA crews. We have a 100 year history of flight test experience. The lessons gained from that experience were gained at the expense of many lives. Virtually all the buildings and streets at Edwards AFB are named after dead test pilots, as is the base itself. Those who want to shortcut testing in the hopes of going someplace dramatic like Mars are ignoring the lessons of history.