Stop with the histrionic hyperbole. They've got a guy up there now, and another scheduled to go whenever Soyuz gets cleared. This is a lull preceeding a new phase, not an ending. Know the difference.

So? Good for Mr. Gore. How about the Koch brothers - probably the major funders of climate denialism - they're worth $43 BILLION.

No, the essay just reflects reality - it's the truth of the current Republican War on Science that you seem uncomfortable with. Rational Republicans need to take their party back from the crazies.

No, the essay just reflects reality - it's the truth of the current Republican War on Science that you seem uncomfortable with. Rational Republicans need to take their party back from the crazies.

Wow - Adobe makes such great products!

Reality has a well-known liberal bias.

So...then...you support teaching creationism in schools and think global warming is a hoax. Just confirming that you support a candidate who believes these (and myriad other nonsensical positions).

Inappropriate and not funny.

This is an absolutely HORRIBLE idea, and I hope their business and any other that would employ a similar strategy fails miserably.

Are you aware of what soil is made of, or what many of the vegetables you buy at the grocery store are currently grown in? If you were, then you wouldn't be squeamish about growing plants in artificial media.

I don't understand why the growing material is "gross" at all. If you knew what sort of (literally) crap soil is made out of, maybe you wouldn't be so effete and squeamish.

No. Seriously, do some research first before you go off half-cocked.

Delphinius, you make some good points. You could bring all tons of He3 down from the moon and the market for it would be tiny because such fusion technology itself has only been proven on a very small scale. That said, PistachioWildebeest overstates his case: He3/He3 fusion is the real goal, and there is no reason to…

While I admire Zubrin's passion for the subject, we are not going to Mars anytime in the foreseeable future. There is no public support for it, and no compelling reason to go, other than that it would be a neato torpedo thing to do.

The Breitbart reference is spot-on.

Vaterite: now that is a very interesting post - thanks. I have re-published it (with credit to you) on my blog: [enterspace.typepad.com] If you have an objection to this, let me know, but I find your comment to be very illuminating, and I think we have the same take on the practical feasibility of this discovery.

And you're qualified to make this assessment because you have a PhD in geology, correct? If so, then you should be writing a letter to the editor of Science - which is a totally legitimate thing to do, that's how science works - not posting some lame skeptical remark here to try to make yourself look all clever and…

Uh, no. The entire design of the shuttle is inherently more risky than a capsule. There is no launch escape system; the side-mount design is inherently prone to falling foam that damages the heat shield; the heat shield tiling system is itself prone to greater failure; solid rocket boosters cannot be throttled or…

Sounds like someone needs to get DARPA and Mark Holderman together. The latter, while still at NASA, came up with a very intriguing design called NAUTILUS-X:

You present an attractive scenario, although even you would probably agree this just is not in the cards in the foreseeable future. This general subject interests me if for no other reason that to speculate about the economics of such a production system. From what sources are you basing your estimates?