Congress failed to fund the Commercial Crew Program, which would have put astronauts in space on Space-X boosters using the existing Falcon rocket and Dragon capsule. Instead, NASA&#x27;s pork programs are getting funding.<p>Colonizing Mars is a fantasy. The worst real estate on Earth can support life better than the best real estate on Mars. It would be easier to colonize Antarctica or underwater on a continental shelf than Mars.  Send robots to look around, sure. We now know what Mars looks like. Nearly airless, dusty, rocky, maybe some brine or ice. Years of orbiters haven&#x27;t found anything really exciting that justifies more surface exploration.<p>The US should build a Venus lander that can survive that environment and let us get a good look at Venus. The only surface pictures of Venus are from Soviet spacecraft of the 1970s.  It&#x27;s time for another look.