Rick Santorum vs. Newt Gingrich: Moon Colony Attack Ad Released

Rick Santorum's campaign is attacking Newt Gingrich over his idea to establish a colony on the moon.

In an ad airing on national satellite radio entitled "Out Of This World," a narrator says, "Reckless spending has led to a 15 trillion dollar national debt. That's 50,000 dollars of debt for every person in America and it's crushing our economic recovery." He continues, "And what's does Newt Gingrich suggest? Spending half a trillion dollars on a moon colony."

The ad then plays a clip of Gingrich's promise that by the end of his second term there will be a permanent base on the moon with 13,000 Americans living there.

"Gingrich's idea is fiscal insanity. And another reason true conservatives are uniting behind Rick Santorum," says the narrator.

Gingrich has said he would like to go back to the moon "permanently" and get to Mars "as rapidly as possible, building a series of space stations and developing commercial space."

To accomplish these goals, he has proposed public-private partnerships and offering "prizes" for advancements in space.

Politico reports that Santorum went after Gingrich aggressively Friday in Missouri. "I think what I've been saying all along, and all the polls show it, but now we can see it in reality, that when we go head to head with Governor Romney, we can beat him. When Speaker Gingrich goes head to head, he can't," he said.

Tension between the Santorum and Gingrich camps is growing, according to Robert Costa of the National Review. "Santorum advisers are irked at Gingrich's public attempts to nudge their candidate out of the race; Gingrich aides are frustrated by Santorum's quixotic determination, his unwillingness to cede the anti-establishment mantle," he wrote.

Meanwhile, in the next primary contest, Nevada, Mitt Romney is headed for a blowout win Saturday.