The government has continued to reiterate its support and sustenance of NASA and its seemingly lofty space pursuits. Since 2004, President Bush has been pushing for manned trips to the moon, despite the regrettable deaths of seven astronauts on the space shuttle Challenger in 2003.

The latest project of NASA is to establish an "international base camp" on one of the poles of the moon. This lunar outpost is set to be built, manned and ready to function by 2024. The three planned stages are: to produce a non-manned test flight of the lunar spaceships in 2009, a manned test flight of the exploration vehicle used in 2014 and finally the actually first manned flight to the moon (with four astronauts) in 2020. By 2024, the outpost will be built up enough to house astronauts for six month increments, eventually increasing to some level of permanency.

The cost of this project is estimated at $104 billion. Interestingly enough, NASA's estimate is only for the first flight back to the moon. This does not include the amounts for the subsequent flights to the moon, much less the cost of maintaining such an outpost.

Does anyone else remember the International Space Station so previously heralded and lauded for its creation? The I.S.S. took a major blow when the Challenger was lost as the U.S. government suspended its space program for two and a half years. The I.S.S. is currently manned by only two astronauts as it is struggling to be completed by 2010. And though the estimated cost of this space station is a rough figure, it is also around $100 billion.

It appears that the government has yet again overstepped itself. What has the I.S.S. accomplished? International cooperation? Maybe, but it should not take $100 billion and two astronauts to encourage international collaboration. We have enough problems and conflict down here on the planet Earth to warrant better focused cooperation.

And on the grander scale, what has NASA produced or created to better our lives? Velcro and portable computers? Not exactly, as those often cited examples of space inventions have been incorrectly attributed to NASA, when they were actually developed independently and for different reasons than for space exploration. Now back to this proposed outpost on the moon plan. How about calling it what it really is, rather than dubbing it as an international cooperation project. It is merely an attempt by the U.S. to have strategic advantage over other nations such as China. Is it a coincidence that China has recently pushed for and has made plans to further develop the moon also? These projects have odd similarities to the arms race back when our parents were our age. Soon, the "Star Wars" project started by Reagan will appear again as the same old rationalization of protecting American citizens will be invoked to legitimize government actions. The moon will be but a military advantage in the event of conflict.

Another given justification of colonizing the moon is to afford an avenue to continue on manned exploration to the planet Mars. Assuming that all goes as planned and we do send humans to Mars and actually find the so elusive remnants of water. So that basically means we may be able to prove life existed or was sustained on the red planet on a microscopic level. Then what? How would that better us?

I understand the need to explore, research and discover new things about the universe around us. But at what cost? Our economy is finally on the upswing of things. The war in Iraq is failing as it is draining our soldier's lives and taxpayer dollars. We have a growing deficit and a failing Social Security program. Think about what $104 billion can do for our education system. Not to mention we have concerns like AIDS, world poverty and disease.

Yes, it is important to continue investigating the cosmos. However, with the current status of national and world affairs we do not have the luxury to be spending billions of dollars to satisfy an itch to explore or to demonstrate our military dominance. The needs of this world are greater then those outside of it.