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My only intention in references to this magical material is that there are things which are truly wonderful and will probably be used in the final "real" probe, but which we (a) can't afford, and (b) wouldn't be able to use even if we could afford them. Things like nanotubes, for example. They exist, they work wonderfully (at least in the laboratory), but they're a long way from being useful to us and who among us could manipulate them for installation in our 3' long tube? Therefore, "unobtainium." I'm not talking about transporters or antigravity, or even medical tricorders, nor am I saying with a grim downturned expression "can't be done--if men were supposed to fly God would have given us wings!" (Grump!) Not at all. I've been around long enough to have seen just about everything we take for granted go from didn't exist to everyday use.
My point is for us to focus our real-time efforts on identifying and using what we have now to build a test vehicle that will demonstrate a self-propelled vehicle that will poke its way thru ice, dropping off signaling devices to let us know where it is. I have no doubts that the real thing will have nuclear power and finely machined surfaces with steerable maneuvering jets, but we ain't got none of them things. Have I belabored this point enough?
We have some wonderful ideas that we can use right now, so let's get busy.
Gail |