NASA Unveils Exploration Plan

NASA has unveiled the results of the Exploration Systems Architecture Study (ESAS), the foundation for the Moon-Mars Vision for Space Exploration. While the approach described in ESAS for lunar missions makes sense (I, for one, have advocated a Shuttle-derived heavy lifter for a decade or two), NASA's public presentation was oddly short on context. The lunar program was presented almost as an end in itself, a slightly more capable Apollo, rather than as part of an integrated exploration strategy. There was also scant mention of the sicntific and educational aspects of such a grand endeavor.

Adminsitrator Mike Griffin's interview on the ESAS results is available here:
http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/133896main_ESAS_rollout_press.pdf

TIME's Jeffrey Kluger did a good job of encapsulating (no pun intended) the ESAS plan and its relative timidity compared to the bold Vision for Space Exploration. So did NASAWatch's Keith Cowing:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1107112,00.html
http://www.nasawatch.com/archives/2005/09/nasas_esas_roll.html

It all may be moot, given the current climate of looking at every government agency to pay down some of the hurrican relief costs. But NASA could still do better.