Exploration Versus Pioneering

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden recently drew a distinction between exploration and pioneering.  Exploration, he suggested, implies going out and coming right back, while pioneering means going out and staying permanently.  NASA, he declared, is in the pioneering business.

All that is fine, and even useful, but declaring is simple enough.  NASA and Congress need to put together a coherent, workable, long term manned spaceflight policy.