10 Jan
2002
10 Jan
'02
5:50 p.m.
Ian Koller wrote:
Ben,
I wish we had it all today too. I'm sure we would have
been much further along if they hadn't cut the budget
back so severely after the apollo program wrapped up. But
the shuttle is a good working vehicle. Launches of the
shuttle are so common now, you only hear a blurb on it
on the news. In addition to flying Glenn back into space,
I wish they would take Yeager up one time too, just to
thank him for the contributions he also made.
I don't think they wasted the last umm 40 years
as it has taken to get out of the Cold War era.
There are some small private outfits trying to develop
their own programs too, either in CA or somewhere out
west. But it still takes a lot of money, just not as
much as NASA requires. On CNN this morn, I believe there
was mention of a launch, but the vehicle was still a
$500,000 vehicle. I bet if you searched google, you
might find one of the private projects, that you might
even be able to contribute help to.
The last good one was Rotary Rocket but has gone
belly up. Lets see a new home is $250,000 so what is
$1,000,000 for a space craft that works! But the bank
don't give mortgages on space-craft. The other stuff
is the X-prize contest stuff. I don't believe in contest
stuff because you can't share good ideas.
One concern I have though is that until there is
actually
a good destination to go to ( where there is air and water,
even if it has to be extracted ) there may not be enough
of a reason to make it commercially viable. Short hops to
get halfway around the globe in record time would be good,
but true deep space travel may need a destination that will
support life. I liken it to sailing. Some people like to
take their boat out just to go sailing, but I kind of always
wanted a destination to sail to. Sailing halfway out into the
Atlantic, just to see it, and coming back just never excited
me. If Columbus hadn't found the "New World" how many would
have continued to voyage out across the atlantic.
Well I have a nice plot of land on MARS. If it legal that is
another story. :) Also I don't think 8 bit computers are
the best design for a computer. I don't expect sell any
24 bit cpu's but that still has not stopped me dreaming
about a better computer. The same with space travel, we need
the dreamers still do stuff. I expect people will find
living in space hard because 'community' something that
seems to be forgotten as a important aspect of life rather
than $$$.
--
Ben Franchuk - Dawn * 12/24 bit cpu *
www.jetnet.ab.ca/users/bfranchuk/index.html
--
PS. Buy a 24 bit cpu... I need the yearly world market quota of THREE
filled! :)