On Wed, 27 Jul 2005 22:30:07 -0400, "jonathan"
wrote:
Ground the Shuttle forever!

As of now the 'Nasa Dream', as envisioned by our
elected leaders, is a grand plan for colonizing Mars.

I would say most people would agree that such a vision is
well...nice. It'd be 'neat and all' they'd say.
But this lofty goal doesn't show the public much
tangible return for the enormous time and effort.
So it doesn't inspire and move the American people
since the idea is limited only to pure exploration, and
not balanced with real world needs.

I suggest an entirely different vision for Nasa.

The greatest threats to humanity in this century is energy, pollution
and climate change. Dependence on fossil fuels is the
elephant in the room.

Space Solar Power
http://spacesolarpower.nasa.gov/

Don't believe the NASA hype machine. It gave us the Shuttle, and
NASP, and VentureStar, and ...

You want solar power? It's far cheaper to do on the ground.

Frankly, they should strongly consider dismantling the human
spaceflight program. I don't see what purpose the government has
running one. If private enterprise can make money on space tourism,
great, but don't subsidize it with tax dollars.

--
Robb McLeod )
A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops.
On my desk I have a work station...