A Stitch in Haste

I'm not sure what the back story is to a report that the latest omnibus appropriations bill includes language expressly forbidding NASA from spending any taxpayer money to research, develop or advocate a manned mission to Mars. But I know I like it.

As I explained in a comment to this blog:

I'd rather see NASA's greatest minds redeployed in the private sector than squandering their talents on warm-fuzzy-feeling boondoggles.

The simple truth is that most (perhaps not all, but certainly most) of NASA's operations have become unnecessary and wasteful since the end of the Cold War. NASA is, with only a few exceptions, a legitimate public good only to the extent that it pursues military objectives.

We went to the Moon not because it was neat-o, but because we had to. There is simply no analogue to going to Mars -- there is no "space race" any longer.

When China's Communists become an interplanetary threat to the free peoples of Earth -- which they likely will -- then we can revisit legitimate (i.e., military) NASA funding. In the meantime, let's keep NASA on a short leash and limit it to atmospheric studies, researching global warming, etc., where at least a remotely plausible "legitimate public good" argument for spending taxpayer money can be made.