------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Feb. 13, 2003 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
EDITORIAL: LESSONS OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE DISASTER The space shuttle disaster has raised many questions. Scientists have long questioned the need to send people into space. It is dangerous and not necessary. Robotic devices can do the same work, without the danger to human life. The moon missions by NASA weren't performed because of scientific need. They were part of the Cold War against the Soviet Union. This was always the case, and it can be seen even more clearly with the end of the Soviet Union. No one now talks of the necessity to send people to the moon. It is far too dangerous and costly, and for what purpose? The space shuttle flights with people on board are similarly costly adventures that appear to be driven mostly by the propaganda benefit showing U.S. technological domination of space, not by scientific need. All the scientific experiments performed during the flight of the Columbia could have been performed on a humanless flight. There is no scientific gain made by continuing the shuttle missions as they have been. There is no reason to increase the budget for these propaganda missions. There is another aspect to the shuttle disaster that isn't being talked about. In this time of military buildup, the Pentagon claims that its new weapons are so sophisticated and technologically advanced, that they never make a mistake. Yet the space shuttle is the most sophisticated and advanced technology ever developed by the U.S. military-industrial complex. Obviously it is not mistake-proof. There is no reason to believe that the U.S. military operations, which have much less sophisticated controls and do not have the kind of continuous ground support given the shuttles, are more accurate or free from error. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe wwnews- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Support the voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
