Editorial: Going back to moon is spacey idea

Monday, Dec. 8, 2003 | 8:44 a.m.

Administration officials say that President Bush is considering a number of major initiatives to unveil before the last year of his first term. One proposal he is weighing is a program to combat childhood illness and hunger, another would launch a campaign to promote longevity and a third would undertake a new mission to the moon and possibly beyond to Mars. The most controversial of these ideas would be revving up our nation's space exploration program, an announcement that could come on Dec. 17, the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers' flight at Kitty Hawk, N.C.

Traveling to the moon made sense in the 1960s, and we believe NASA still is relevant today, but it baffles us why our nation would want to go back to the moon. We've been there, done that. Even a manned trip to Mars, a voyage that also is under consideration, would seem farfetched given today's soaring budget deficits under a president who bills himself a fiscal conservative. It is ironic that an exploration to Mars would even be contemplated after the president just signed into law a prescription drug plan that will cost at least $400 billion over the next 10 years. As a bit of history, Bush's father proposed on July 20, 1989, the 20th anniversary of the first moon landing, that the nation make plans to go to Mars. This idea went nowhere after the costs were revealed -- $400 billion -- and we're certain that there wouldn't be much excitement this time aro und, either.

On Friday the Washington Post reported that a senior administration official said the president's closest advisers want Bush to advocate grand initiatives based on the belief that they burnish Bush's image as a decisive leader -- even if people disagree with the specifics of his stands. "Big works. Big grabs attention," the official said. But someone should explain to the president, and his advisers, that big isn't necessarily better. Instead of focusing on size, we'd rather the president focus on what works best and what's needed most here at home -- not what he thinks might help his re-election bid.