What Fantasy will NASA use next to justify a Moon-Shot?

On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:40:11 -0400, jonathan wrote:

"BradGuth" wrote in message

...

Even if Mars were instead covered in a thick layer of gold or whatever
precious element makes you a happy camper; so what?

Who on Earth is going to pay a million bucks per gram for that Mars
gold?


That's what bugs me. Griffin flat out said that we should have 'Faith'
that if we go, some wonderful discoveries or benefits will happen one
way or another. Doesn't anyone see the absolute lunacy of having the
success or failure of America's most visible and prestigious /scientific
program/ rest on Faith?

The space program is... a scientific program? I don't think so, not
really.

A lot of good science experiments and grad student research funding were
AXED to pay for that stupid "International Space Program", where the
Japanese use it for such highly scientific programs as finding out if you
can ride a flying carpet in microgravity.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/20/v...surfs-through-
space-on-flying-carpet/


I can just picture a group of scientists huddled around the computer,
all praying for the results to be good and holy. Has the world gone
Bizarro?

Or is that a tortured excuse for a program with other unspoken agendas?

We shouldn't have to cross our fingers going to the Moon will somehow
find benefits, we should have a good scientific justification for
believing it will be so. It's called putting the cart before the horse.
Just like The Stick, just like ISS, they decided to build the thing
before they thought through whether it'll work or be worthwhile.

That's the sure sign of corruption or deceit. Putting the cart first.
"This is what The Powerful want, so make it work"!

Corrupt to the core.

The people should be making these decisions now, and I bet in a fair
debate between a cold-war moon base, and Space Solar Power that a new
energy source for the future, making America great again would win over
a seldom occupied and dusty moon habitat for six ...or so.

But they can't make good decisions if they're being LIED TO. The public
should understand that Bush started a military space race, and that
means another generations long very wasteful cold-war with dangerous
inevitability's.

But if only China would go democratic Our future could be so different.
The Truth could set us, and them, free.

We should have Faith in the truth, and in the people....in democracy.
That's how we end up with good results. Corrupting the process generally
produces scandalous failures.




~ BG