[Porsche-O-Phile]

No doubt. I'm a longtime supporter of our space program. It's always been (for me at least) a symbol of national pride, innovation and dedication. But the money just ain't there. If we're going to cut these programs, we ought to (hopefully) put the money towards cleaning our $h1t up and not blowing it on stupid crap like bailing out AIG, GM, Chrysler, Citigroup, etc. Unfortunately this is exactly what will happen - or it will be diverted into local pork projects. The total federal government expenditures won't drop by a dime.

Engineers actually produce things of value. Financial types do not. That (to me at least) dictates where our spending priorities should be.

But I have to agree with this decision - it's the wrong move right now to be blasting billions of dollars into finding new ways to screw up other worlds with the lunacy of humanity until we get our own house in order here on earth. I'm okay with cutting or suspending this program - providing it's a bona-fide CUT (in other words, government expenditures drop by this dollar amount, 100%), not just a redirection of funds to somewhere where you just KNOW they'll be used less effectively.

I wonder how this will play out in China, who is (for the moment at least) planning a manned moon landing within the next 10 years. Personally I think that program will implode too for lack of money, but we'll see as time goes on.

I think the golden age of human space exploration is gone. Unlikely to return for a VERY long time - there's just not enough money/resources out there. It's going to take a long time for us globally to sort out the present mess to the point where nations will prioritize this.