🚀 go-pugleaf

>Of course James van Allen is not against building space colonies, provided
>nobody suggests that any funding should be allocated to doing so... since
>we all know that such funding would have to be taken out of the budget for
>Space Science, which is the only space-related activity of any importance
>and hence should have absolute priority.

Aw, Henry, come off it! I've become more than a little irritated by people
who like to whip up religious zeal in the true believers by setting up straw
men and placing words in their opponents' mouths.  If I were to read van
Allen for the first time, having heard nothing about the man but what I'd
read in this group, I'd think I was meeting an imposter doing a poor job.
For anyone who is seriously interested in learning what van Allen has
actually said, read his writings! You may be surprised.

Uh, settlements?  Leading to discoveries and/or technological progress?  Can
you please explain this?  Why do we need settlements to lead to discoveries
and/or technological progress, and what sort of deep-space settlements are
likely to do so?  "The court finds itself unable to follow the alleged
reasoning."

:-) :-)

Phil