Posted on 04/02/2005 2:45:44 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Support the Vision. The getting and being on the Moon presents a multitude of scientific and technological opportunities.
Fight the Vision and the situation will remain the same, a dwindling NASA and a dwindling pool of engineers and scientists.
Manned flight - human expansion - creates capability and enables science and technology.
The President's Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy - A Journey to Inspire, Innovate, and Discover
ping!!
I absolutely support the exploration and development of space, and in particular the administration's moves to recruit private enterprise into the endeavor. That's been long overdue, and even now far from adequate. In fact, I think the best route would be to subsidize commercial activities in space until they could take off on their own. Joint public/private ventures is the way to go (for now).
Also, I find it alarming that other nations are contemplating putting bases on the moon or ventures to Mars during the next 30 years, and we don't seem to be seriously looking into that. Shocking as it may seem to both the idealists and the luddites among us, the day will come when boundaries will be negotiated - quite possibly by force of arms, I would say inevitably in the long run - and it's imperative that we be the first in line.
"But that's the American way! If we don't proceed at a fairly good clip, there are other countries working now toward settling the Moon."
Settling the Moon? You're kidding, yes? Who would want to raise their kids on the moon?
In 1500 I'm sure someone asked: Who would want to raise their kids in the wilderness amongst the savages?
Yes. The emotional and physical fact that our culture settles the Moon first, makes an important and lasting statement.
Unfortunately, may scientists/academics don't see anything wrong with say, China getting to the Moon first. But then, the large majority of scientists/academics are LIBERALS and most of them have never lived and worked in the real world.
Ping-a-ling
If we don't eventually colonize other planets in other solar systems and galaxies, the human race is doomed. Plain and simple. Sooner or later, all life on Earth will be extinguished and likely some catastrophic event will occur well before our sun goes into supernova. We do not yet know how much time we have to establish a presense elsewhere. We might have 10,000 years or we might have a million years. Or we might much less time than that. But we ought to be working on it now.
The single most effective thing that would catapult mankind towards the stars and beyond is a pill that makes kids think of mathematics as a form of recreation.
You're exactly right but that notion is almost impossible to convey.
It's as plain as the nose on their face but they don't want to think about it.
Our sun will not go supernova; it will become a red giant and then collapse into a white dwarf. However, the earth will be incinerated just the same (unless it's moved).
If they know they can get into space, they'll study like crazy to go.
PS. It's worth noting though that the burst of gamma rays from a supernova in our immediate stellar neighborhood would probably kill most life on earth.
" But, of course, there are those who wouldn't have migrated to the New World."
The new world has food and water. I'm sorry, I guess I am being terribly dense here.
The moon has nothing but a great view of earth. There is no beach, no mountain streams, and you would have to live and die trusting the expertise of engineers to make life worthwhile. Why would someone do that? At least in the new world you had a plot of land has your starting point.
We should worry about supervolcanos and planet-killer asteroids for the time being! Pandemics too .. and grey goo!!
There was an article posted on FR a while back about how the Earth could be moved using something like the gravitational slingshot technique. Start with an asteroid or comet and perturb its orbit to give the Earth a small boost when it passes by. Such a technique would require vast amounts of time and planning, and there are many different combinations in the way it could be done.
In a thousand years you're going to be kicking yourself for not jumping on lunar realestate while the going was good.
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