You folks all know how I feel about lunar exploration, I am convinced that our resources would be better spent in other missions, deeper into the solar system, or on construction of a spaceport in LEO. The moon is not “a steppingstone” to Mars. It may be close by, but its a deep gravity well that’s hard to get to and even harder to leave, where crews will be cut off from rescue and support. it also looks like this Orion rocket system is prohibitively expensive to operate in the long run, just like the shuttle.

But having said that, we’re now committed to Artemis, so I’m jumping on board. I’ll be on my front porch Monday morning watching her go up. Godspeed.