[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Is the driving force behind space exploration money(profit)? Yes.
Exploration just for the sake of exploration? Yes. Scientific
investigation? Yes. Finding more room for humans? Yes. So the answer is
"All of the above," just as it is for nearly every aspect of human
endeavor. Some of us humans will see monetary profit potential, as some of
us do now. Remember Heinlein's "Mow your lawn, lady?" as the beginning of
the creation of one of the galaxy's richest men? Some folks won't do
anything unless they get paid for it--I've worked with some of them!
Others, like me, I think, do things just for the hell of it, especially if
I haven't done it before. In a restaurant, especially one I've never been
in before, I'll order something off the menu that looks interesting
especially if I haven't tried it before. How else does one learn about new
things?
In that case, I heartily recommend the Rocky Mountain oysters! Or, perhaps
you'd prefer the chilled monkey brains?
The scientists among us want to know how and why things behave the way they
do.
The current hoo-ha about cloning is an example.
Hooha? Gail, I'm 33. Since the age of 24, my hair has been thinning. So,
I'm waiting for some doctor out in Japan or Holland to come up with 'cloned'
hair! It just goes to show, that all hoo-has are relative.
Also nanotechnology. Once discovered, things can't be "undiscovered," and
the
counter to one such argument against nanotechnology (it shouldn't be allowed
because there's too much risk of misuse)
Misuse? Hell, that's the point! Why bother spending billions of dollars
bending the rules of physics, if you can't then make 'em work to your
advantage?
is that prohibition of research and development would just make it go
underground,
thus setting up the very condition the prohibition is supposed to prevent.
Um... drunken Federal Agents? Whoop! Wrong prohibition.
S
o what this says is that we need to appeal to all of the motives, not just
one or the other. There may well be profit potential in discovering a new
energy source in the sub-ice ocean of Europa. Great! Go for it! Design me
some boots that will insulate me from the ice and help me build a shelter
from Papa Jupiter's radiation!
I recommend the Europan Mukluk, in vibrant lime green and brilliant blue,
sizes S-XXL, now with new odor-eaters, good for 400 million miles or your
money back -- just try collecting it, sucker!
Personned or unpersonned, get the samples of the ice and the water and see
what
makes our favorite satellite tick!
W
atch the skies!
Gail Leatherwood
-- J.
