🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1989Jan18.102436.12838@cs.rochester.edu> dietz@cs.rochester.edu (Paul Dietz) writes:
>Van Allen correctly predicted the disastrous failure of the space
>shuttle program to achieve its stated objective of reducing launch
>costs, and so far his predictions about the space station are right on
>target.  

>Nick Szabo (szabonj@humpback.UUCP) writes:
>Who says that James van Allen is against building space colonies?  James
>van Allen is against current forms of manned spaceflight (ie station, shuttle).
>This is a very different thing.  
>
>In fact, the exploration of the *entire* solar system which van Allen
>and myself advocate will bring about the discoveries leading to space        
>settlements much sooner than our current mass wastage on manned capsules in
>low earth orbit.  

Both of these postings declare the shuttle and space station to be wasteful
failures. While the shuttle did fail to live up to the preconstruction PR,
and the space station might do the same, I think it's short sighted to call
them "disastrous failures" and "mass wastage". In terms of manned space R&D
I think they both are (will be) extremely successful. The shuttle has taught
us a vast amount about how to build (and not build) a reusable space vehicle,
and I'm certain the station will do the same for human space habitats.

As to the perennial question of whether we should spend money on manned or
unmanned space research, I think most people support both. Of course this
brings up the real rub, just how much money should each program get. I think
it's clear that manned space research is by its nature much more expensive
than unmanned. In the one case you have to lift human size structures, life
support, and human beings; in the other miniaturized computers and scientific
instrumentation. Given this, unless you're part of the small minority that
rejects one type of research, I think current spending priorities are close
to what they should be.

John L. McKernan.                    Student, Computer Science, Cal Poly S.L.O.
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