A more important diff between now and 40 years ago is the lack of competition. We were in a very literal race to the top, back then, and you could very reasonably argue that it was a matter not just of national pride, but national defense (whee, orbital bombardment). Now we have a vast lead over any nation that might want to pick a new space race with us, so you can make the argument (as some here have) that talk of a Mars-shot nothing more than a ploy to get more Americans to look up and pay less attention to all the mess at their feet, at least through November.

And while I can make counter-arguments to these (there's always something to be said for looking up), I grind my teeth that my president can't even tell me what I've been wanting to hear, without me wondering what's in it for him. (No, I don't think that this reaction is equivalent to "question authority", which I try to always do, even against authority I like. This is automatically doubting authority. I hate developing prejudices, and becoming cynical. Argggh.) And that's probably more the motivation for my post.

Either way, I will follow this story with great interest, you bet.