Obama has decided to end the Ares rockets program which was to be the precursor to NASA's next stage of manned moon landings, instead charging NASA with the mission of improving their technology with an eye toward a future of greater, more far-reaching missions, to Mars and beyond. Meanwhile, he is turning the sub-orbital space programs over to the private sector, designating a six billion dollar grant to help develop the fledgling private enterprise.

I don't know how I feel about this. In a sense, it almost sounds like a worthwhile move. We've pretty much taken the space shuttle programs to the limits as far as their value to us goes, and we do need to move on, but I think ending the moon landings is a big, big mistake.

In a sense, the space program is still in it's fledgling state. Going to the moon, let's face it, was the equivalent of a human toddler walking upright for the first time, while yet holding on to something to steady his balance. We have a hella long way to go yet. We've learned and accomplished much, but there is still much more to learn and accomplish.

By the way, the following picture is of the last Wolf Moon. I never noticed this before, but look just above the wolf's snout. Damn if it doesn't look like a perfectly drawn human face in profile.