----- Original Message ----- From: "Erik Reuter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "BRIN-L" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, September 01, 2003 7:44 AM Subject: NASA over-reaching again
> NASA is a huge waste of tens of billions of dollars of our money. What > NASA really needs to do is to abandon manned flight, further develop > their unmanned, computer or remote controlled flight capabilities, > and perhaps some low-level basic research on materials science, > revolutionary rocket engines, and perhaps a maglev rail-gun type > launch. Humans in space is a tremendous waste of our resources given our > current technology, I vehemently disagree. I believe we should do both. All the things you list are things we should do. And actually a perusal of NASAs website will show that they are being done. But there is no way to gain experience in space without being in space. There is simply no substitute for being there. And the longer we wait to build infrastructure in space, the more expensive it gets. Waiting for a magic bullet to appear is simply a waste of time. What is a waste of resources, is multiple military black projects and open projects upon which billions are spent and are then cancelled. That money could have been spent productively. The real problem is a lack of direction. Where do we want to go? Star Wars or THX1138? >not to mention an unjustifiable risk of human life. I refer you to the history of human exploration. It has always been risky, and I find that to be within the realm of acceptability for people who volunteer. > > Anyway, here is an article that discusses a lot of practical issues and > explains why a winged rocket is such a bad idea. Nothing new. This argument has spanned years and taken up many megabytes of webspace. Its a Ford vs. Chevy type of argument AFAICT. xponent Brust Maru rob _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
