[Porsche-O-Phile]

A surge of national pride - similar to what the lunar landing did in 1969. I think that's part of it - as well as to maintain our established position as the world leaders in space exploration. China and India are now making serious runs at manned space programs too and have the technical know-how to beat us at our own game if we let them.

Of course both countries have economies that are highly dependent on ours (and Europe's) too, so even if we have to curtail our programs due to budget reasons, I'd suspect they would too...

I love the space program and the history behind it. Always have. It'd be a tragedy to slash these programs, but given just how bad things are these days, I could seriously understand (and probably support) a five-year moratorium on new spending for such things. We need to get our house in order first and work on immediate concerns like energy independence, national security and economic stability first. Fly the shuttle 3-4 missions a year through 2015, then if everything else is resolved by then, resume the timetable for the return to the moon, etc. Just my $0.02 on what should be done here.