"If man were meant to fly, he'd have wings!" A human lifetime is so short. Manned space exploration is only 50 years old and "high tech" is still in it's infancy. We got used to rapid-fire sequential space missions when we were young and it was stupid to think that the pace could continue. I think that we have barely scratched the surface of materials science, engineering, and even our understanding of physics has huge gaps. Those hurdles will be overcome, and a few generations isn't too long to wait for manned exploration to really kick into high gear. What we've witnessed so-far is comparable to those first Vikings sailing west in wooden boats, to land on the shores of North America. Long-term survival of humanity pretty much requires that we expand to other worlds. The price is too high for any single nation to shoulder, so perhaps the current plateau is ecconomical and social, more than anything. We need to learn to work together as a species before we can cross the oceans of space en masse. My 2 cents. On Thu, Mar 1, 2012 at 7:43 AM, Kim <kimharch@cut.net> wrote:
Here's a question for friendly debate: Has human exploration hit a wall with space? Maybe it is simply not possible, and won't be for generations, if ever, to go any further than we have. I don't mean robotic probes, as I think they have really given NASA the best "bang for the buck," and I believe that part of space exploration certainly can and should continue. But human exploration? Perhaps technology has also reached its limit and will never overcome the immense barriers to further human exploration beyond near space (earth orbit and/or lunar exploration - maybe).