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RapierFugue -> RE: Atlantis (STS-136) Final Shuttle Launch (7/10/2011 5:03:51 AM)
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ORIGINAL: SternSkipper
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I don't believe it has to be that way though, at least not among the intelligent and scientific ... I think the true challenges are the goals we all want to reach, and for as long as we think small, and local, and parochial, then that's all we'll ever be, as a species.
You make an excellent point... As it stands now, there are many aspects of EVERY NASA mission that our local MIT Astrophysics Department includes the student population in contributing to the missions in the form of supportive research and experiment design that will likely be less, if not gone altogether from curriculum ... hopefully Mars will pick up the slack. But this going into private hands will only spur advancement along profitable avenues besides low orbit mobility and satellite launch and repair becoming a private competitive matter, I doubt there's much more we'll gain. So we NEED to reach further and we NEED to continue supporting NASA. At this critical point in time, we DON'T want to simply give up on space exploration. They keep talking about investing in the future from both sides of the aisle. I hope they get that
I honestly believe we won't get anywhere as a species until we stop thinking in local terms, and start thinking as a planet.
Obviously, since I'm not entirely naive, I feel the chances of that happening are pretty slim. But what are the alternatives? No one nation can hope to make the next significant jump on its own; as I understand it the costs are simply too high. So if one nation can't do it, might not a consortium of nations make the attempt? I.e. we stop NASA, we stop the ESA, and Russia & China also, and throw everything into one large-scale, better-funded organisation, managed by a pan-national group?
Or maybe I am too naive :) That's one pretty long-term pipe dream ... but then again, not 2 decades before the Russians sent a man into space, and the US put a man on the moon, most scientists believed sustained space flight of any flavour was impossible, due to the energy requirements to lift man out of orbit (when all they had were petrol-driven engines, and fairly duff ones too).
I also agree entirely that allow private business to run with this on its own will only increase problems, not solve them; companies are simply too short-term in their thinking, too conservative in their outlook (as well as being too defensive of their own proprietary interests) to effectively manage a space programme, regardless of the nation the company looks to.
Roll on Star Fleet ;)
<cue Brian May guitars>
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