to infinity...

thanks to slashdot for putting up a story about a new bill in the house of representatives to establish a truly ambitious plan to get into space. as in, bases on the moon, mars, and martian moons by 2024. very cool stuff.

now, unsurprisingly, this was sponsored by (democrat) congressmen from texas and california (golly, wonder what they're hoping for), but at the same time, this is the exact kind of thing that needs to happen. we need to to convert our swords into saturn v's, at long last. the skillset of our defense contractors is the same as that of our aerospace industry. they're the same people, same companies. why can't we just not build a new aircraft carrier for the president's daddy (bush the elder was a much more stand-up individual than his kid, but still...) and decide here and now to get up, dust off, and take a bold step again.

i've ranted about this before, just because it seems so brain-dead simple to me. nobody loses jobs, nobody loses their seat in congress, it's the same pork, just healthier. another other white meat. and now, here it's getting some attention. this'll never pass, of course, but who knows, maybe the one after the one after this will. it's got to start somewhere. i wrote my congressman; if you agree, maybe you should too.

surf's up, space ponies.