On to Mars, at last Bush's space plan is the right stuff

NY Daily ^ | 1/17/04 | Charles Krauthammer

[Truth666]

Looks familiar ?
http://engforum.pravda.ru/attachment.php3?postid=593627

[nwrep]

Old Kraut has become a total Bush-bot, I see.

[Cicero]

Well, actually, he says pretty much what I think too. The international space station was a foolish boondoggle and the space shuttle is kaput. So, if you're going to have a space program, the sensible thing is exactly what Bush proposes: set up a station on the moon and plan to head for Mars.

He also says that Bush handled it stupidly, and I would agree with that. What kind of dumb move was it to present this as a great political gesture that would bring the country together? Nothing Bush does will bring the country together, because a third of the country hates him. So it was a good move but badly handled.

[CasearianDaoist]

A third of the country hated Kennedy too. A third of the country hates every president. I think that it is a very good plan - I thought it was handled quite adroitly and shows superior management skills all around. I cannot understand the hostility to this on FR, nor the notion that it was badly handled. What did you want, a "Kennedy moment?" That is exactly what we do not need. I think that people are still PO's about immigration and are transferring it to this.

Should NASA go on like before? Should its management not be restructured? It is sound and well considered judgment and bold leadership. Are these things "pandering for unity?" And in any event if this cannot "unify us" can there be much hope for us? If we are too weak and too effeminate for the major and essential tasks and duties of civilization then let us know now and proclaim our weakness and foolishness to the world so that others may take the lead. Let us cancel all Science and Technology programs (NASA, BTW is dwarfed by other S&T initiatives in other areas such as the DoE and in the Health/Medical area.)

This "unify the country" business was put forward as "speculation" by the media - there was no reference to it in the speech. The truth is the only was to unify the country is to have a clear party winner sustained over time. The various elites of created by the New Deal have to be replaced and that takes time; this is one beginning, one openning to the renewal of America that must come if we are to remain a truly free people. The reactions to this proposals are telling to me, and most of them are at best very immature. People are not bothering to understand the plan from any point of view - politically, technically, commercially or even spiritually.

One gets the idea that people think we all marched down to Flordia the day after Kennedy made his speech. We did not, only in hindsight is that speech seen as epochal. And more to the point, the approach NASA used ignored all the vital X program research that went on prior to that. What we need is a paced, comprehensive approach to a workaday infrastructure that allows us to be a true space-faring nation; the first in history. Kennedy would have done better if he had atriculated such a plan. It is a masterful vision and if a Dem proclaimed it he would be herald as a visionary. But a Dem cannot proclaim it because the last thing they want is for this country to be is the greatest country in the world. AN outbreak of excellence makes socialism quite problematic.

Better to set a path and boldly go down it. The mediocre will follow bye and bye

[JoeSchem]

So, if you're going to have a space program, the sensible thing is exactly what Bush proposes: set up a station on the moon and plan to head for Mars.

I don't agree much with Charlie Reese, but he was spot-on recently when he pointed out that spending billions of dollars on what amounts to a rock-collecting hobby for some people is not a good use of public money at a time when the budget is already a-busting.

If there's a value in going into space, let the private sector fund it. Then maybe the value will be realized. The only thing NASA has proven in the last thirty years is that if there is a way to screw up the Right Stuff, government will do it.

[Iscool]

That frees up huge amounts of NASA money to do what is useful and exciting

Uh, Nasa doesn't have any money...That's MY money you're talking about...And I don't want Nasa OR George B wasting it on some dead rock with no air around it...

[aBootes]

I like it!

[ambrose]

I don't want Nasa OR George B wasting it on some dead rock with no air around it...

luddite n 1: any opponent of technological progress [syn: Luddite] 2: one of the 19th century English workman who destroyed labor-saving machinery that they thought would cause unemployment [syn: Luddite]

[hunter112]

Those who want to divert even these paltry sums to domestic spending would undoubtedly have objected to Magellan's costly plans, too.

Spoken like somebody who read too many history books extolling the "Age of Exploration" as some sort of noble endeavor to expand human knowledge. Crap. Magellan and the explorers of the 15th and 16th Centuries were financed by kings who wanted goods from the Far East.

What are we going to do with rocks and dust, the only things the moon and Mars have to offer us?

[CasearianDaoist]

I am with you.

[ambrose]

Titan, one of Saturn's moons, is a treasure trove of natural resources including helium and natural gases.

[Iscool]

luddite n 1: any opponent of technological progress [syn: Luddite] 2: one of the 19th century English workman who destroyed labor-saving machinery that they thought would cause unemployment [syn: Luddite]

Hey man, whadda ya tryin to say???

Maybe yer saying we can save the manufacturing and construction industry by building cities on the Moon...Look at the mining opportunities...What, with the shortage of "moondust" on the earth, the possibilities are endless...Yep, there's moondust in them thar craters...

And then there's Mars...Wonder what it would cost to heat a house at night on Mars...If only there was some water there, you could at least build some bricks...

[ambrose]

The key is to build settlements on the Martian equator, where it is fairly warm.

Look, it is our destiny to explore new worlds. We're more than just apes with cute DVD players. That's why we we explore. Tangible benefits have always followed any great exploration effort.

[hunter112]

Solidarity with our Israeli settler brothers!

Okay, the Palis can trade the Gaza Strip for a canal on Mars!

[marron]

Space engineering and space technology are going to be the skills of the millenium. The country that master these technologies is the only country that is going to matter. If its not going to be us, then it isn't going to be us.

The Japanese and the Chinese recognize this as fact, and are prepared to act on it. We can stand by and watch from a distance as they plant their bases on the moon, and beyond, and focus on such things as making sure that every child gets birth control.

You can dismiss the space program as rock collecting for nerds, and guarantee that your grandkids will be working for their grandkids.

[ambrose]

Bump!