One Giant Leap for the White House

Re “Aging Hubble Gets No Fix-It Funding,” Feb. 8: Fixing the Hubble may not be feasible, but increasing NASA’s budget for additional manned moon and ultimately a Mars landing is absolutely ludicrous. The best and most cost-efficient way to explore the universe is with telescopes and non-manned vehicles.

But if President Bush insists on manned exploration, he should be the first visitor to Mars.

At roughly a one-year journey, he could leave January 2008, arrive on Mars in June, claim, “This is one small step for mankind, one giant leap for George W. Bush,” then return to Earth just in time for the swearing-in ceremony of the next president. After all, he will never make the history books as a great president, but first person on Mars, absolutely.

Dennis Arntz

Laguna Niguel