Hmmm
I said:
1/ China has a space program for putting people in space - the USA hasn't
2/ Bush has an election coming up
3/ The USA even has to rely on Russia to deliver it's space cargoes
4/ Bush has an election coming up
5/ Everyone in the USA feels good about the spirit rover working on Mars
6/ Bush has an election coming up
7/ The Chinese have a space program
8/ Bush has an election coming up
Hm, I nkow there
are other reasons - just a bit pushed to think of them at the moment.
The Neo-cons have already told Bush he's over-spending on everything else already - and the $800 million for NASA is chicken feed for what is required.
Ok, Brian.
However, I was looking at some other areas as well.
1. We just about knocked the Russians off of their stoop with this announcement. And they are rubbing their hands in glee at the probability of working hand in hand with the US on this project. This is good for them and the US, because a burden shared...plus the money it will bring in, not to mention the prestige. Plus it will distract the Russians from assisting the Chinese in their program (the Chinese are not nearly ready for that kind of leap - though they are quick studies and very determined).
2. The US has become complacent the last 20 years (which is uncharacteristic for the culture), particularly with the space progam and historical success of the STS Shuttle program. But that is all it is, a shuttle/cargo carrier. It is time to move on to "this, that and other things".
3. The US has the technology, and then some, and has had it for 40 years. We really had no reason to go back until now (now that we have discovered minerals in the comets, asteroid belt, and the Moon, that are useful to us). The Chinese have also contributed to our incentive (by creating competition). Americans love a challenge. If they aren't challenged they become bored.
4. This will boost the morale of a war weary world, who's petty bickering and squabbles over tribal god images, and land grabs, is breaking us down faster than any World War we have had. It forces us to look out past ourselves and wonder.
5. The way President Bush worded it, just about anyone can get in on the game. But (there is always a butt somewhere), the US is leading this game, and will not stop for petty infighting, and indecision.
6. Some say the US is the brightest burning bulb on the tree (as nations go), and that which burns brightest lasts half as long. The US will not be able to remain a superpower for ever. But to have the historical legacy of leading mankind out to walk on other worlds, would put the US in the greatest contributions list.
7. It is a form of immortality, for the "parent". If colonies are established and successful, then the foundation they are based on will have "made in the USA" chisled into the corner stone, long after the USA is dust. All roads lead to Rome, all worlds lead to home, and the USA is the birth place of the spacefarer's point of origin.
The Chinese have military ambitions for space (as well as other areas), wherein the US has military supremacy. Americans have a tradition of trail blazing, of defying what the status quo is. Bush may not be eloquent, but neither is he stupid...all he has to do is get a seed to germinate in the minds of his countrymen, get people curious about reaching out for the brass ring, and making us think outside the "box". His implying equal partnership and sharing equally in the rewards to the Russian people (because love him or hate him, he is a man of his word, and Russians understand that), subconciously boosts their national ego. "Wow, the president of the United States (and defacto the people), consider us Russians as equals, partners worthy of eachother..."
Not bad for a scrub land Texas rancher with black gold, and a limited vocabulary.
my two cents.
