I hate to be selfish - but if we spend the extra time needed to establish a waystation on the moon for a Mars mission, I'll be dead before I get to actually SEE humans land on Mars - so I'm all for the "direct to Mars" route.
And about the Moon having resources - yes, but it would take a decade or two of research before humans on the Moon could begin to make some reasonable contribution to an Earth-Mars trip - it would probably be cheaper to lift material up from earth, assuming a drop in the launch price per kilo (using, say, a Big Dumb Rocket, or a EM cannon/railgun)
Anyway - I think it should be obvious that Bush is just playing election-year politics; these are similiar to the promises his father made back in 1991 or 1992, and no mission to Mars has yet been explicitly planned.
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I hate to be selfish - but if we spend the extra time needed to establish a waystation on the moon for a Mars mission, I'll be dead before I get to actually SEE humans land on Mars - so I'm all for the "direct to Mars" route. And about the Moon having resources - yes, but it would take a decade or two of research before humans on the Moon could begin to make some reasonable contribution to an Earth-Mars trip - it would probably be cheaper to lift material up from earth, assuming a drop in the launch price per kilo (using, say, a Big Dumb Rocket, or a EM cannon/railgun) Anyway - I think it should be obvious that Bush is just playing election-year politics; these are similiar to the promises his father made back in 1991 or 1992, and no mission to Mars has yet been explicitly planned.