Here's a pretty good take on NASA's current situation by the Economist.

My main complaint comes toward the end, when it seems to lament that this isn't about science. Who says it should be?

Set up shop

Find the gold

Send said gold back to Earth Command

Do science as time permits and/or as necessary for immediate survival and further exploration necessary to find more gold

Else.....

Stay home and wait for the end

My main complaint comes toward the end, when it seems to lament that this isn't about science. Who says it should be?

It's kind of interesting, if you go to someplace like slashdot, which is arguably a reflection of the technically-inclined populace. Almost everyone there seems to be convinced that NASA's primary duty is a scientific organization, and it seems that they've never considered it as anything else. That's going to be a mighty difficult perception to change.

Rand --

I read the Economist article, and I do not see any laments. Rather, the author makes fun of the lamenters, and points out that science is not NASA's first priority, and never was: "For the real point of the vision, whatever form it takes in detail, is to put human exploration first and scientific discovery second. And that truly is back to the future for NASA, for the Apollo project had exactly the same priorities. Harrison Schmitt, Eugene Cernan's even more forgotten companion on the last Apollo mission, was the first and only scientist to make the trip. Even in the agency's heyday, NASA's scientists came second."