NASA's first man in space, John Glenn has said a plan to set up a Moon base to facilitate the manned exploration of interplanetary space is a very bad idea. Under the current US government direction, NASA hopes to (eventually) establish the manned outpost for future launches to Mars and beyond, thus avoiding the huge [...]

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That's just politics. VSE was considered "republican"--he's a Dem--so figure out the rest.

He is talking about the foolish EELV assembly program--and he doesn't know Launch vehicles like Griffin does.

EELVs cost you more in engines--and are even less useful for Mars.

Glenn has been listening to too many Ares V bashers and their fabrications.

His party is advocating shutting down NASA. Do you think he'd buck the trend?

So sad that the pioneers in space like Glenn and Armstrong
never lived up to the pioneering/marketing push that flyers like Lindburgh
gave the aviation community during the 1920s-50s.... we'd still
be running around in canvas-wrapped crates barely hopping from
city to city.

(Yeah, I'm getting to be a bitter old man.... I grew up believing we'd conquer the solar system by now.)

The guy was the first American in space. I believe his opinions should be listened to and considered if viable, regardless of what his political affiliation is.

Actually, Glenn was the first American in orbit. Al Shepard was #1 in space.

In any case, one's accomplishments do not nessesarily make one's opinions more worthy than others. Witness the situation with Ed Mitchell.

The shuttle is expensive to maintain. If the budget saved by retiring it in 2010 is kept in NASA's budget for redirection to the Constellation program, then we might, just might, be able to pull off the making of the Ares 1.

Does it really matter if the US isn't in space for 5 years?
We'd only have ourselves to blame for that gap anyway; not enough people giving support for the new missions.

And to the subject of a Moon base, it can do more for us than just a place to go to Mars from.

__________________
I calculated the odds of this succeeding versus the odds I was doing something incredibly stupid...and I went ahead anyway. - Crow T. Robot

Godspeed, John Glenn. - Scott Carpenter

And these atomic bombs that science burst upon the world that night were strange even to the men that used them.
- H.G Wells, The World Set Free

To the conspiracy crowd, radiation is a big Boogey Man that inspires terror and death in all who encounter it. - JayUtah

I would subscribe to that, especially if it helps NASA to maneuver out of the blind alley the space shuttle has become.

In the meantime, let the Chinese have their moment of glory and be the second nation on the moon if they want.
So what??

IMHO, the next steps in manned space exploration should all be leading towards learning how to establish a permanent presence
(and then start to exploit that presence - science, tourism, mining...)

We've proved that we can do that in orbit, now the logical next step would be the Moon.
It's worthwhile in itself, no need for an extra justification.

If the same tools and technologies can later be used for further exploration (such as Mars), all the better...

Actually, a Chinese trip to the Moon might be just what we need to kick us in our complacency.