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A bit more about the cancellation of the moon program here: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/space/os-no-moon-for-nas...

Hopefully their approach will be to further encourage private space travel. A quote from Rand Simberg, an aerospace engineer: "It’s not NASA’s job to send a man to Mars. It’s NASA’s job to make it possible for the National Geographic Society to send a man to Mars."

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I disagree on the Mars assertion. Commodity space travel, such as taking satellites and people to LEO, makes perfect sense as a commercial enterprise. Even the Moon is within reach for commercial spaceflight. However, the amount of work and innovation required to put the first man on Mars, an endeavor with no commercial prospects in any reasonable timeframe, seems far beyond the financial reach of anything but a government.

I dare to bet that the Chinese will be the first to put a human on Mars: They have something to prove and being second on the moon just doesn't cut it.

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