I would call for launching 1,000 softball-sized life-seeking robots to Jupiter's moons by the end of the decade. My robots, when they landed on Europa, would heat themselves up to an extreme temperature that allowed them to burrow through the moon's icy crust to the water beneath. On their way down through the crust the robots would leave a trail of communications devices, little repeaters like the fire department uses in high rise buildings, so that the robot could still send info back to Earth. Once in the water, the robots would unfold and swim around and search for signs of life. Scientists say that Europa appears to be the most likely environment in the solar system for life, after Earth and maybe Mars.

The Bush people say that only manned space flight is exciting enough to inspire the American public. I don't think they give us enough credit. We could be doing so much more right now with robots. Sure, I love the idea of a moon base and a human colony on Mars. What a cool thing to think about. In fact, when the first images of Mars came in from the Rover it ocurred to me that all we had to do was send a group of developers from Tucson up on the next mission and within a year we'd have a strip mall, a parking lot, and a Starbucks up there, no problem. We've already got a decked out little SUV roaming around up there. It's only a matter of time before we need some muffler shops and fast food drive throughs as well. I'm sure that this is what the Bush team is thinking.

There's no question that rather than trying to figure out ways to leave this planet behind, we should be using our resources to fix the problems we have here on Earth at this moment in time. We shouldn't be allowed to touch another planet until we can commit to stop fucking up this one. Unmanned missions would allow us to learn and do so much more for so much less time and money. Coming from the mouths of the Bush guys, the idea of another moon landing seems more about escapism, macho posturing with China, and a harkening back to old ideas that worked in the past for President Kennedy.

Speaking of Kennedy, try saying this slowly and with Kennedy-esque pauses and a Boston accent: "By the end of this decade we will launch a mission to send one thousand, miniature life-seeking robots to the moons of Jupitah." You get chills down your spine, right?

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