Remember that stuff a few years ago about Bush wanting to go back to the moon and eventually send a manned mission to Mars? I had forgotten all about it. I liked the idea of going to Mars, though I remember wondering at the time why Bush was so interested in the planet. Mars has no oil, as far as I am aware.

Well it looks like the Mars thing is still on. Congress approved Bush’s plan, and NASA sprung into action. A short two and half years later, they are ready to talk about making a plan. Looks like we’ll all be eating moon cheese and slaving away for sixteen hours day in the red desert of Mars to build the swanky palace pleasure dome in which the Super Rich of the future will live.

What, you may ask, does NASA have in mind once we reach these interstellar landmarks? Here’s a glimpse:

“In the long run, we know that Earth and its resources are finite,” Michael Griffin, head of NASA, said. “There are resources in space — solar power or particular materials or precious metals, or basic things like water or fuel which, in the context of a space-based economy, can be very valuable.”

“You will — if you can live long enough — see the resources of the solar system similarly incorporated into humanity’s sphere of influence.”

You got it. SPACE MINING.

Bush’s motivations may be more along the lines of what we’ve come to expect after all.

Here is an article about NASA’s plan to make a plan.