Greg Crinklaw wrote:

snip

can't have it both ways; either you support human spaceflight or you
don't. Instead of whining about goals and questioning whether or not we
should do these things now, if you share the dream of human spaceflight
then support it! And then demand that your money be spent efficiently.

That works for me. Manned spaceflight, without foreseeable economic (ie
profit) or novel scientific return, is just stupid. It only serves pork
barrel interests or as a distraction from more important issues. It
won't pay down our national debt, get us out of Iraq with our dignity
intact, or improve science education in the nations schools.
That unsupportive enough for you Greg?

"Chris L Peterson" wrote:
It is important to get ourselves off the Earth, but
we aren't quite ready

And we never will be ready until we make the effort! The ISS, and a
moonbase are us trying, are us moving forward! Every long journey
begins with a few small steps. I'll never understand how so many
apparently smart people fail to see that!

Why try now? The US (I mean, who else are we really talking about?) is
incredibly thinly stretched financially. Manned space exploration
will be an economic black hole well into the future. The Earth can
still sustain humanity for a long time to come. Perhaps not in the late
20th century fashion we're accustomed to, but that's another OT thread.
Probes explore better and cheaper (Magellan did not have probe ships
BTW ;-) )
What's the point?



Shawn