NASA's goal of "inspiration" appears too expensive to execute.

Without another $50 billion, The U.S. won't put astronauts back on the moon by 2020 -- and even 2030 could be a stretch. That is the view emerging from the presidential commission charged with setting NASA's strategy for human spaceflight, and many of the options for speeding up the timeline -- including decommissioning the International Space Station -- appear politically unpalatable. "Unless the president is willing to step up and take a bold step like President Kennedy did, the manned spaceflight program is going to go in the ditch," says Senator Bill Nelson, D-Fla. This report was in the New York Times on 8/24/09.

Do we need to spend another $50 billion to visit the moon again or other planets that can not sustain life? I don't think so. Spend that money towards health care, saving medicare & social security. My thoughts are that Bill Nelson is a huge NASA enthusiast, being he was given a ride on the shuttle several years ago, he is not looking out for it's constituents.