If you want better funding for NASA, turn it over to the defense department and drop the civilian management. The shuttle would have been flying after Columbia almost immediately-the military philosophy being that if you lose a few personnel in service, you send thousands more. There would be a huge fleet of those suckers (albeit painted green cammo), and astronauts would be required to spend 24 months in space during their entire enlistment period. The shuttle payload bay would have the most cool rotary missle launcher you've ever seen. There would be fleets of Hubbles, which could look down as well, pinpointing any and all enemy locations. Orbit Guards would go to space one weekend a month, two weeks every year, and bring home a little extra money while securing a nice little retirement. Additionally, the military funds mountains of research. Even a small fraction of the military budget devoted to research would still be far more than the entire budget of a strictly civilian space program- no more unemployed scientists. ;) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com