Newt Wants A Colony on the Moon by 2020

... and to probably put an ex-wife or two there, too.

Republican presidential candidate Newton "Newt" Gingrich vowed yesterday to build a base on the moon by 2020 if he's elected president. Speaking to a rally near the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Gingrich said he wants the U.S. to spearhead a space travel boom similar to the airline boom in the 1930s. The former speaker of the house also said that he'd set aside 10 per cent of NASA's budget for competitions to help spur on the boom, and indicated that he wants to devote more resources to exploring Mars. This... might actually be the least repugnant thing the man's ever conceived, although that 2020 deadline – just eight years away – is probably next to impossible to achieve, because it is, well, rocket science, and extraordinarily expensive rocket science at that. (And that whole thing about the moon becoming the 51st state is a little manifest-destiny-ish for our liking.)

Nevertheless, lofty goals often bring out the best in a nation – NASA put a man on the moon less than a decade after John F. Kennedy committed to doing so – and expanding space travel, both private and public, could be a much-needed economic boost to a country whose manufacturing sector has just been put through the wringer. To Newt's credit, this isn't just some fly-by-night scheme he's hatched to woo voters in Florida ahead of the state's primary – space exploration has long been one of his favourite subjects. So, needless to say, our inner (aww, who are we kidding... entirely visible) sci-fi nerd is tremendously excited at the prospect of visiting Moon Unit Zappa some day. But the realist in us figures there are a million and one problems that need solving down here on Earth before we head back to the moon. Plus, come on. Dude's not getting elected.