Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has ignited a debate on the role of US towards space exploration. He has commented on the possibility of building a US space colony on the moon which has taken a lot of conservatives by surprise.

Even though some might see it as a joke, there are others who look towards it from a broader prospective. There has been a long movement going on, which had died in recent year but again resurrected after these comments on the role of US on Space. This debate could surely reshape the future NASA or even fuel further commercial space exploration.

After the end of cold war between US and Russia, the US space policy took a back seat. There are voices being put that there is a dire need to rethink the policy which has become very old and to determine the need of spending billions of dollars annually on space exploration without any future prospect.

During the past few decades, Presidents like Reagan, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush have pushed plans for space exploration and visits to mars. But the bigger picture is that US does not have to do this on its own. This is not a matter of supremacy anymore. After the end of the Soviet Union, the US has been pushing towards space exploration spending billions of dollars. This money can be more viably spent on commerce-centric issues of the country. The Republican Presidents unlike Democrats have had a more bias towards national defense and national economics.

Today, there is a far greater worry in front of US in the form of federal deficit which goes up to Trillions of dollar and rather than spending money on space exploration, the focus should be more of economic development.