In Today's news, NASA finally announced their plans for
getting back to Luna Firma.  However, I was shocked at the
price... now... hold your pinky finger against the side of your
mouth with your thumb down... like Dr. Evil does and repeat
after me.... ONE HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS!  I've done a lot of
work with NASA over the years and I have to point out a few
things I see in this.  The most obvious is that MOST of the
technology being "developed" is simply a repurposing of existing
technology... take the main boosters for the Crew Exploration
Vehicle... it's nothing but an SRB from the Shuttle program...
and the second stage is nothing but an engine from the Shuttle. 
But, you say, the heavy lifting will be done by a new booster...
not really... it's also a development of the shuttle program...
it'll be a modified main tank (you know... the one that keeps
loosing it's cool.)  They're actually going to strap 6 or 7
SRB's on that thing - that should make for a spectacular show if
it fails.   Now, remember, the S