The Very Definition of a Boondoggle
February 1, 2026
NASA aims to build a Martian outpost on Mars with nuclear propulsion rocket to get there before the end of Trump’s term. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman spoke of a “transcontinental railroad” to Mars to “establish a Martian outpost and maintain American superiority in deep space.” And get this, he also said about going back to the Moon: “America’s mission to the Moon won’t end with a handful of landings. We will undertake repeatable and affordable missions that expand our presence across the lunar surface, fulfilling a 35-year promise to the American taxpayer.” How about promising to the American taxpayer no more boondoggles?
Laurence M. Vance [send him mail] writes from central Florida. He is the author of The Free Society; War, Christianity, and the State: Essays on the Follies of Christian Militarism; War, Empire, and the Military: Essays on the Follies of War and U.S. Foreign Policy; King James, His Bible, and Its Translators, and many other books. His newest book is The U.S. Proxy War in Ukraine.
