
Originally Posted by
rodsky
One will have difficulty in reaching the second floor of a building, if one doesn't have stairs.
Right now, NASA is building the stairs, in the form of the "Return to the Moon" program, which will help develop the Orion CEV spacecraft (Project Constellation) into not only a moon-specific capsule, but an interplanetary capsule (the second floor, in my analogy). Meaning, before one goes out further into the solar system, one must first check the performance of the spacecraft on operations/missions to nearer worlds like the Moon and Mars. NASA plans to send manned missions to the moon by 2018, and establish the first permanent lunar bases by 2025. In about 2028-30, the first Manned Mars missions might actually begin from a moon base, because it's easier to lift a spacecraft off the moon than off the earth.
-RODION