LOP-G or Gateway

The LOP-G ( Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway )  architecture involves putting a space station in orbit around the moon.

In an earlier post, with respect to Zubrin, it would appear to be a useless and expensive effort.  Compare that with nothing at all.

The LOP-G is expected to do science.  Since it is mostly a political effort, this is about as good as it gets.  It is a political effort because NASA has been political since its start.  Besides that, it is international.  Not only do you have to deal with American politics, you have to deal with the politics of international partners.  This is like herding cats.

Of the most useful scientific efforts, human health and performance in space, should be of long term interest in going to Mars.  It is out of the Earth's protective shadow, so we should be able to find out the long term effects of exposure to cosmic radiation.

NASA proposes to use this Gateway as a staging point for its Deep Space Transport craft.  Which is probably another boondoggle, but this is government.  That is the way it is.

Like it or not, NASA has a plan.  I don't know if it should be ditched just because of some successes in the private spaceflight field.  Over time, those successes may make the government effort seem rather timid, but until then, it is all we got.