RAND SIMBERG on the future of NASA: "NASA’s job is not to send a man to Mars, but to make it possible for the National Geographic Society to do so."

Simberg is correct in calling for NASA to be a technology and systems facilitator rather than developer, but the transition should have begun years ago. I worry that the abrupt cancellation of Constellation - and a minimum decade-long hiatus from manned space - will do nothing but accelerate the loss of interest and institutional experience in human space flight.

X-PRIZE Foundation CEO Peter Diamandis is more optimistic. Former astronaut Tom Jones has a different view. I hope Peter Diamandis is right, but I suspect that Dr. Jones' view is the more realistic.