GSC Update:

*President Bush is rumored to be days away from announcing his new U.S. spaceflight policy. This announcement comes within weeks of the three greatest tragedies of NASA to date: Challenger, Columbia, and Apollo 1. Among the items that might make it to the agenda:
-retiring the aging shuttle fleet to be replaced by a new series of vehicles
-sending humans back to the moon, or even on to Mars
-fixing the International Space Station
-subsides and commercialization for the Government-run NASA
-a possible second spaceport in the U.S.
or, unfortunately,
-reducing funding for human spaceflight and encouraging robotic exploration of our solar system

Speaking of disgust regarding robot explorers

*GSC Editorial
Robots have many uses, I'll give you that. However, humans are a naturally curious species. We, as a species, have a penchant for actually feeling things, actually seeing things. Robotic spacecraft will not quell this biological desire. If one robot probe was all it took, then why do people still take vacations? Why not just look at a picture of a beach for an hour with steel drum music on? Think about it.