A Cheaper Way to Go: Mars Inc.

LA Times ^ | 1-22-04 | Max Boot

[ambrose]

A Cheaper Way to Go: Mars Inc.

By Max Boot

When Christopher Columbus set sail from the port of Palos de la Frontera on Aug. 3, 1492, no doubt there was some peasant standing on the wharf, muttering to himself, "A fine waste of royal escudos. As if we don't have enough problems at home. Why are their stinkin' majesties funding a voyage to nowhere?"

Fortunately for Spain, those benighted views did not prevail. If they had, Spain would not have gained one of the most lucrative empires in history. Unfortunately for us, the sentiments of that apocryphal peasant seem to be the dominant reaction to President Bush's bold vision for colonizing the moon and visiting Mars, which may be why he didn't mention it in the State of the Union speech.

A chorus of critics is demanding that, instead of exploring brave new worlds, we perfect the one that we already have.

[ambrose]

The problem with this idea is it approaches a mission to Mars as nothing more than a joy ride. It should be much more than that. It should be nothing less than human colonization, and an outpost for further missions in the solar system and beyond.

[marron]

Why sail over the western horizon when we have so many problems right here in Spain??

[Indrid Cold]

And, as we saw, the rich supply of gold from the New World eventually wrecked Spain's economy.

[marron]

the rich supply of gold from the New World eventually wrecked Spain's economy.

That, and the brain drain as her best people left home for parts unknown.

Gold is not wealth, people building and creating is wealth, but not many Spaniards understood that at the time. Nor did anyone else. Gold was the bait on the hook that got them to go and build a whole new world. That new world was true wealth, not the gold that drew them over there.

[bc2]

Privatise NASA mega-bump