Hopefully we're not getting the complete story, but after these latest articles the vibes are not seeming too good. Up until now I had the impression that circumstances had conspired to almost force Nasa and the White House to come up with something a little more ambitious. There has been so much criticism about the lack of a clear goal it seems hard to believe they would come out with something totally lame. As the Nasa Administrator himself said not long ago, and I'm paraphrasing, It has to be something that's a least ambitious enough to excite the public.

I still think Mars is the ticket, and I can't understand why they're so hesitant to make that the official main goal of the space program. Otherwise, what's their reason for exploring the planet in such an aggressive manner with unmanned missions.