Well not if you’re US President Obama it would seem.Having just cancelled NASA’s “Constellation “ project with its spacecraft that looked like Apollo on steroids launched by a stick- thin Ares rocket that should have been blasted from a giant milk bottle, it’s going to be some time before Americans set foot on the Moon again.The irony is that just as the US scrapped its plans for manned spaceflight to our nearest neighbour, Iran announced that it had sent some mice into orbit.What’s the latest odds on the Chinese being next on Luna?

Gifts for men who want to reach for the stars, but can’t quite afford to do it for real, come no better than the “Moon in My Room”.At just £25, it’s certainly cheaper than your average NASA or ESA budget and although it’s ust be one small step for technology, it’s a giant leap for fun lighting.The Moon in My Room is an accurate relief model of the real thing and is designed to be mounted on any convenient wall. Using a mini remote, you can control the Moon’s appearanceto suit your mood or leave it on automatic running through all 12 phases from waning crescent to waxing gibbous.  There’s even a CD with a 15 minute guided audio tour of all the Moon’s craters, seas and places of interest. Birthday gifts for the occupant of the oval office come and go, but at least with this one the Americans can “take it on home” while China or India actually go there.

Better yet, as gadgets go, Moon in My Room is also incredibly cheap to run.   It’s powered by just four AA batteries (with 2 AAA’s in the remote).Those cost a lot less than tons of kerosene or liquid hydrogen and oxygen propellant and are much safer than the solid fuel the space shuttle boosters used.   You do have to careful now how you dispose of them, but at least that would give NASA something to do for the next few years.

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