| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| specfiction |
Posted - 05/30/2007 : 10:54:38
Here's a letter to the editor I recently sent to Wired Magazine:
Manned Space and other Follies
I'm probably going to incur the wrath of many scientists, but here goes. Your recent article, About that Bold and Daring NASA Moon Coloney, and another similar article that aired on NPR this morning, are symptomatic of a misunderstanding among scientists and some science minded people. There’s an old saying, “You always hurt the one you love.” These cyclic venom sessions against NASA’s manned space program are not only misguided, they demonstrate a basic misunderstanding of human nature and how society really works. More problematic is that many of the complaints about shrinking space science (as opposed to manned space) are true and alarming. Having said this, it would be a waste of time to diminish the importance of space science (robotic science) or manned space; they’re both important. It is counterproductive and destructive for proponents of either to beat each other up in hopes of getting the imaginary zero-sum pot of money that will, by default, go to the winner. In fact, everybody loses. There is no default pot of money.
I was as staff physicist on the SSC project in Dallas Texas, remember that? I recall scientists complaining about manned space. It isn’t science; it’s a waste of money—on and on. Then I remember a group of the same people gathered around the TV set as Story Mustgrave was suspended on the robotic arm of the Space Shuttle, repairing the Hubble. You could have heard a pin drop in the room. “Nothing of any interest here!” I declared loudly. Heads turned and eyes blinked. They’d been caught in an instinctual moment. How could anyone fail to be captivated? And there lies the reality of the situation.
The message to take away from that little incident is that most tax paying citizens really don’t care about science. It’s sad, but true. Scientists may find a Congress or President in a charitable mood now and then. They might eek-out a few hundred million every now and then from a ten trillion dollar budget, but that’s about it. Unless, of course, they ride on the coat tails of ventures that capture the imagination of a large number of people. And there is nothing that makes regular tax paying citizens swell with pride more than astronauts rocketing into space, or people jumping around on the moon, or entrepreneurs making money in (manned) space.
The first wave of interest in science came with a politically motivated race to the moon. That unscientific venture spurred a Tsunami of science, scientists, technology, wealth, and prestige. By constantly complaining about manned space, scientists do nothing but shoot themselves in the foot.
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Specfiction |
| 2 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| specfiction |
Posted - 06/14/2007 : 21:41:54
quote:
Originally posted by The Jarillion
I think the problem is one of presentation. Think of the media attention given to the robot missions to Mars. If Fox can do a stupid interview with a real-life Artoo-Detoo then that must be encouraged if resources are to be sent in the right direction. Manned missions are too expensive impractical and dangerous to my thinking. It sounds insane but if NASA actually considered the toy market in the design of their robot drones cash might be the quicker in coming. Imagine if the child of the future could buy a life-sized martian explorer as a remote controlled toy (if he couldn't already).
www.jarillion.com
Remember that saying--there's nothing like being there. You can play a basketball video game or you can play basketball--people who do would never go back to the video game. As a practical matter, in order to survive, smart people have always claimed the "high ground." The intuition humanity will gain by "physically" changing its points of reference will change humanity. And humanity needs changing. A couch potato approach to life yields--not too much. If you think that there was a lot of interest in the rovers, imagine if we had landed people on Mars--wall-to-wall coverage for six months. Governments would be falling all over each other to get in on it--fearing, instincually that the other guy was "claiming" the high ground.
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Specfiction |
| The Jarillion |
Posted - 06/14/2007 : 16:25:45
I think the problem is one of presentation. Think of the media attention given to the robot missions to Mars. If Fox can do a stupid interview with a real-life Artoo-Detoo then that must be encouraged if resources are to be sent in the right direction. Manned missions are too expensive impractical and dangerous to my thinking. It sounds insane but if NASA actually considered the toy market in the design of their robot drones cash might be the quicker in coming. Imagine if the child of the future could buy a life-sized martian explorer as a remote controlled toy (if he couldn't already).
www.jarillion.com |
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