"Fred J. McCall" wrote in message
...
"Paul F. Dietz" wrote:

:Fred J. McCall wrote:
:
: :I repeat: your position would require that the technologies for
: :Mars vehicles be completely disjoint from those used in the rest
: f the technosphere.
:
: You can repeat it all you like, but you haven't shown it to be true.
: That takes real data and real examples.
:
:And the evidence that you have presented for your original
osition is...?

Price trends over the past 30+ years. Look at NASA's estimated price
for duplicating what we did in the 1960's. Even then I suspect some
of the numbers are being jiggered a bit to lower current costs
compared to what was necessary back then in the way of investment in
infrastructure.

:'Spin-on' technologies occur *all the time*. That's why we
:have rockets in the first place -- all sorts of mundane technologies
:that were developed for other reasons, but enabled the production
f spacecraft. Why should this suddenly stop? You are proposing
:a sea change in how technology progresses, with no supporting
:evidence whatsoever.

Paul, it's quite simple. Look at the cost of the original trip to the
moon. Now look at the cost of getting back. Even if you buy that
NASA's numbers aren't just a bit rigged, the price reduction over all
those decades is just pretty damned small.

Look at the cost of currently getting a pound of stuff to orbit back
in the 1960s. Look at the cost of doing the same now. Again, the
price reduction over all those decades is just pretty damned small.

I think you're confusing (or at least mixing) technological costs with labor
costs. The later has grown substantially over the past 40 years in spite of
the reductions in the former.


So you can 'spin on' all you like. The facts don't seem to bear out
your contentions. They do seem to support mine. The fact that you
don't like that doesn't change it.

Neither does your claim that I've presented no evidence when I have
done precisely that and you have not.

--
"False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the
soul with evil."
-- Socrates