re: Naive article, some issues for robotic vs manned
The current plans of the USA (VSE) are not my personal plans and to try to lay them at my feet is absurd! For the next century the 99.99 figure is going to stay pretty steady for numbers of humans off world and exploring space. I'm willing to bet you that even if there was an SE right this second in full operation that that would be true.
You are arguing to wait till we can "afford" manned mission under a vague CATS concept and at that seem to be saying you are determiner of what level of cost is acceptable because you are not a fool. I think we can as a nation afford manned Mars missions now. But I'm also perfectly willing to put this idea to the tax payers of the USA as a referendum.