Do you need some time to get away from it all? Have you considered a beach, an island, the AFC?
What about the moon?
Although men have not walked on the moon since 1972, plans are in the works for the United States to return. NASA is currently researching the means to land on the moon by 2020, a goal announced by President George W. Bush in 2004.
This time around, scientists are studying the feasibility of building a research base on the moon in order to learn more about what it would take to execute manned missions to Mars.
First-year College student Karen Milnes said she appreciated investment in this type of research.
"The space race back in the day may have cost a lot of money, but it really pushed us to progress," Milnes said.
She said she thinks reinvigorating the desire to explore the moon might be inefficient without a really good reason to return.
However, Milnes said using the moon to plan for a trip to Mars would be worthwhile.
As futuristic as visiting Mars may sound, "it's going to happen," Milnes said. "It's good to push the boundaries and see how far we can go."
First-year College student Sarah Dickey said she agreed space research is important, especially because it advances our technology.
"A lot of the things that we have now have come from NASA," Dickey said.
But she also said moon travel might not be the best use of money right now.
"I think there are a lot of other things we can put the money towards" on Earth, Dickey said, citing the importance of medical research. "I think [space exploration] is important, but I just don't see the immediate results."
First-year College student Brian Blaylock said he wondered if there was enough money for space exploration when there are wars going on.
Given these budgetary constraints, Dickey said it may be more important to better understand where we are now.
Although Milnes said she supported more immediate exploration, she agreed that if we spend more time examining the unknown on Earth first, "then we can understand other places better."
The quest to understand the "Final Frontier" can be risky, resulting in accidents like the loss of the space shuttle Columbia.
Blaylock said events like that should not discourage exploration.
"I think, with ambition, there are going to be certain risks," Blaylock said, adding that potential discoveries tend to outweigh them.
"Things happen ... and you learn how to fix those problems," Milnes said.
She added that the Columbia accident was not a matter of America not having the appropriate technology to get the job done.
Milnes also noted that when the next flight had troubles, NASA proved it was able to use its experience to fix things in new ways.
One question that remains is which country will make it back to the moon first.
"I don't think [the space race] is as important as it used to be," Blaylock said. "I know China has a space program, but I think cooperation is more important than competition."
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