Andrea Leistra wrote:
> I hope so.
>
> I'd like to believe what that NASA guy said on Monday, that October 30
> could be "the last day we don't have humans in space".
>
> I'd like to think that we can use this experience, of living in space
> for extended periods, to move on to better things; a return to the Moon,
> and someone on Mars. I'm twenty-four, and nobody in my lifetime has
> gone beyond Earth orbit. I find that unutterably sad. Maybe, hopefully,
> this is the start of something.
>
> But I'm afraid that it isn't, that it's going to be just like the Shuttle,
> so that all the energy and money for crewed spaceflight gets funneled into
> things that go round and round the Earth, and nothing goes further, that
> fifty years from now we *still* won't have sent anyone to Mars.
>
> To borrow a line from Mulder on the X-Files, I _want_ to believe that this
> is the start of something, rather than another long stasis. But I don't
> know if I can.
Well, I remember reading somewhere that there is an international
program (in the planning stages) to go to Mars in the next 25 years or so.
So there might be reason for hope on that front.
And then there's the Artemis Project, and their plan for a privately
funded return to the moon. Don't know how that's going these days, though.
I suspect that we're at the beginning of a new tidal surge of interest in
space exploration. All we really need is something flashy, well planned,
and most important - successful, to capture everyone's interest again.
Look at how people got excited about John Glenn when he went back up.
The ISS may provide a platform for the new space missions, and if it
manages to run successfully without any disasters it might help build
interest in manned space exploration again. Lots of good PR and all that.
Kevin Street
P.S. How many proposals are there for manned space exploration in the next
quarter century? I remembered two, but I'm sure that the better informed
people on this list could come up with a lot more. It would be interesting
to make a list.
