Politicians do it all the time with regard to infrastructure projects and development plans. There is nothing inherently implausible in government plans that are decades from fruition.

American scientists wanted Kerry to win the election. What do they do now, asks Ian Sample

On space

In January, Bush announced ambitious plans for Nasa. With the phasing out of the currently grounded fleet of space shuttles in the next decade or so, the agency will look to set up a permanent base on the moon, and eventually send a crewed mission to Mars. While the plans grab headlines and ensure Nasa officials have plenty to think about, many scientists believe that manned space missions are an inefficient way of doing science.

“The Bush administration has caused a delay in important projects designed to do cosmology and astrophysics because of their desire to have humans orbit the globe and perform acrobatic feats, or whatever it is they do on the International Space Station,” says Lawrence Krauss, a physicist at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. “There’s a place for manned space missions, but it’s not to do science.”

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NASA is a space agency, not a science agency. Science is one of its many missions. Manned space missions do science, technology and colonization.

Can you say SOCIAL SECURITY REFORM?

Whatever other disagreements us space cadets may have amongst ourselves, if entitlements don’t get fixed, there will be NO domestic discretionary spending and NO investment in seed corn. (And taxation will be so high that there won’t be much private investment in space either.)

So be glad Bush addressed one multi-decade policy goal over and over again during his campaign. Goodness knows he got pilloried for it by his opposition.

How realistic is it for politicians to be frequently referencing decade plus goals?

“I believe he just talked about it a few weeks ago; we had an astronaut traveling with us one day.”

There’s a difference in claiming definitively that the President talked about the Space Vision and saying, “I believe” he talked about it. At least he was honest in clarifying it with “I believe”.