Kurt, I know that you are not necessarily trying to justify space exploration or any other scientific endeavor by citing the benefits, so don't misunderstand the following. In fact, I believe that scientific exploration should be pursued for its own sake, as no doubt you and many others on this list may also feel. For me, citing such benefits does not justify the costs. Similar benefits typically follow any kind of exploration. For example, the West learned of paper, gunpowder and moveable type by first exploring and then trading with the inhabitants of the Far East. I also don't believe that they should be used as justification for continuing NASA's present course of human space exploration. I believed strongly that it was time to change course before we were burdened with the Space Shuttle and the ISS boondoggles. Now we have more compelling reasons to reverse course. Benefits will follow, I have no doubt. But let's not use the benefits from past successes or the anticipation of future benefits to justify any effort. Let's explore for exploration's sake. Let's do it in a reasonable manner. Let's do it as citizens of Earth, and not as citizens of the US or Europe or China or Russia. And let's hold our politicians to a higher standard. Thiokol shouldn't get juicy space contracts just because we have a congressional delegation that can ensure them, nor should that be the case for any other contractor. That kind of thinking has accelerated the cost of space exploration more than any other. (Take a breath now Kim.) Phew! Hey Chuck, talk about pontificating! ----- Original Message ----- From: "Canopus56" <canopus56@yahoo.com> To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Thursday, July 28, 2005 2:44 PM Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Inanity | --- South Jordan Mom <sjordanmom@yahoo.com> wrote: | | > Space exploration is important to people like us, | > but to some people it's just a big waste of time and | > money. | | While surfing the NASA site, I came across the | following phamplet on common things we use today that | were first developed for use in NASA programs. | | http://exploration.nasa.gov/documents/Benefits1.pdf | | The phamplet makes claims for - | | LEDs (Light-emitting diodes) - used, well everywhere | (How did we get by before the invention of the LED?) | | Household smoke detectors - used in most American | homes | | Cordless power tools used in your home | | Energy efficient turbofan jets that fly over your head | | | Pacemakers and the pacemaker telemetry | | Improved lightweight air breathing units that | firefighters wear | | Ultrasound scanners used by doctors | | The infra-red themometer (that don't require hazardous | waste mercury) | | Infra-red cameras (used to find energy leaks in your | home) | | Portable community-wide water purification systems | | - Canopus56 (Kurt) | | P.S. - And let's not forget those cool back-saving | foam beds. | | | | __________________________________________________ | Do You Yahoo!? | Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around | http://mail.yahoo.com | | _______________________________________________ | Utah-Astronomy mailing list | Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com | http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy | Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com | | ______________________________________________________________________ | This e-mail has been scanned by Cut.Net Managed Email Content Service, using Skeptic(tm) technology powered by MessageLabs. For more information on Cut.Nets Content Service, visit http://www.cut.net | ______________________________________________________________________ | |