[Coco] Re: off-topic, space program

[Lawrence Weeks]

Once upon a time (Sun Jan 18), Brad Grier wrote:

> I think those that "simplistically" blame Bush of being evil are
> taking a page from the man himself; a president that proudly admits
> he doesn't read the news and has a simplistic habit of seeing the
> world in black-and-white. Just ask any "evil-doer".

Whatever. The polarisation this country has gone through, first under
Bubba, now Dubya, is very bad for us as a people. Don't be a lemming,
use your brain. Bush is the president. He isn't a dictator. He, along
with the 535 morons in Congress, do some bad stuff. They do some good
stuff. Regardless of party. The partisan simpletons who impugn every
last thing Bush does as part of some grand conspiracy to enrich his
"corporate buddies" and "steal the oil" are just as stupid as the rabid
Clinton haters. These people love to hate so much, they are blinded.

> As far as the space program, I'd like to see a man on Mars in my
> lifetime but I have serious doubts. We heard similar proposals from
> Bush I and nothing came to pass. Furthermore, Bush and the congress
> are spending money like there's no tomorrow. You can only splurge
> on the credit card for so long. NASA is a favorite chopping block
> when things get tight and with the boomers set to retire, we ain't
> seen nothin' yet.

There's one reason we'll get to Mars: China. Despite the True
Believers, this isn't one big happy family here on Earth. The fall
of the USSR made it seem possible for a little while, but China
will be bringing us back to reality. As their space program ramps
up, ours will too. The Europeans are also getting into the game,
trying to become independent from us. That's another aspect to the
Bush revitalization program. Bush wants us to build a new payload
delivery system. One reason, I am sure, is the current dominance of
the European Ariane booster in the commercial world, and the coming
dominance of China. While those who think national competition is
an evil thing, the reality is that much technological innovation
comes from such competition, and such innovation is a huge driver of
economies. The funny thing is that we now see Russia as our partner
in this: in the days following the Bush announcement, there has been
increased interaction between Russia and NASA. I think it will be
pretty ironic if in the future, if France gets its way (which I sort
of doubt, enlargement came back to bite them!) and re-orients the EU
as a strategic competitor to the US, we will see a US/Russia alliance
of sorts against the rising powers of the EU and China.

As for budgetary concerns, NASA is a drop in the bucket. A tiny
drop. Congress won't be slashing that budget, it is rightfully
perceived as a sacred cow, one that actually produces milk
sometimes too. If the Moon/Mars goal is shown to be likely capable
of producing more milk, it'll get the little incremental funding
increases desired. Bush Sr made the mistake of letting NASA produce
a proposed budget for the program, which, NASA being NASA, was
astronomical. Dubya, or at least his panel, apparently is smarter
and has made no such mistake.

Larry
-- 
Lawrence Weeks                                    lweeks at anabasis.net
Anabasis Consulting Ltd