Re: some here will find this amusing

On Sunday 18 January 2004 12:36, dep wrote:

> | As glaring as it is now ? I don't mean just the US, I mean globally.
>
> perhaps you can explain how throwing money at this will fix it.

Off the top of my head : finding a cure for AIDS so there's a chance to stop 
the current catastrophy in Africa ?

> perhaps you can illustrate this, both as to the technologies that are
> being "kept on hold"

Take blue ray laser for instance. It's been here for almost a decade, and only 
now we're seeing it in some DVD players.

> and the increased rift between poor and rich 
> nations.

Do I really have to dig up the last statistics on how 3rd world countries have 
been faring compared to industrialised ones ?

> not at all. first, no one proposes the kind of multi-year trips to the
> outer planets that you seem to be alluding to.

Then what is this program supposed to bring in the field of new discoveries, 
that some probes couldn't ?

> developed. and the speed of light has little to do with it in manned
> programs. multi-month and multi-year voyages of discovery are scarcely
> unknown historically.

A multi-year travel would get you no further than the solar system, and 
there's very little point in putting people on any other planet than Mars 
because the environment is just too hostile. So if we're really going to 
"explore", it means away from the solar system. Unless the light speed 
barrier can be broken somehow, that's hardly doable in human lifetimes.

> would problems need to be solved as to supply and 
> propulsion? youbetcha. which is exactly what is proposed, and what you
> seem to oppose.

Supply and propulsion are only one side of the problem. Keeping the passengers 
from going mad is another one, probably even more difficult.

If I recall correctly, we stopped trying to send people further than orbital 
space because it made very little sense, since automated probes are much more 
fit for the job. I don't see this changing anytime soon, because economics 
rule, and more in the US than anywhere else. So I doubt that people would 
accept to blow resources over something which is known as pointless.

-- 
						Guillaume.
						http://www.telegraph-road.org

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