I can't resist weighing in here (politically) too... hope this doesn't offend... I believe returning to the moon would be an excellent idea -- in order to fund it, we would first need to quit wasting tax dollars and human lives in the middle east (we could build a new shuttle every month with the money currently being hemorrhaged in Iraq). And if we returned with a purpose, say, with the goal to create a renewable power grid for humanity -- such as a vast array of solar collectors whose energy gets beamed back to earth via microwaves (a project a prof. at the Univ. of Houston has already drafted and shown to be not only cost effective but doable), a lot of the world's problems (poverty, hunger, suffering, etc.) that tend to foment war and hatred might just be mitigated by such an endeavor, particularly if done in cooperation with other nations, WITHOUT the goal of commercial gain for a select few. One of the big appeals of a "Star Trek" future (for me anyway) -- cooperative humans (just imagine!). No more need to drill for oil, or barter or fight wars over it -- everyone ends up with energy and to spare, which would improve the quality of life for millions, and we can then get on to bigger and better things, like the pursuit of adventure and discovery in this wonderful universe we find ourselves part of. Naiive? Perhaps, but such a hope is worth pursuing, considering the frighteningly tiresome results of the alternative... My $.02, Rich --- David L Bennett <dlbennett@mac.com> wrote:
I'm all for the mission if Bush and Co-President Cheney are the first colonists...
On Friday, January 9, 2004, at 09:35 AM, UTAHDEB@aol.com wrote:
Sounds like election year politics to me.
Clear Skies,
Debbie
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