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From: logajan@ns.network.com (John Logajan)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: Spinoffs
Message-ID: <1501@ns.network.com>
Date: 20 Jul 89 18:02:09 GMT
References: <2151@aplcen.apl.jhu.edu>
Sender: logajan@ns.network.com (John Logajan)
Organization: Network Systems Corp. Mpls MN
Lines: 20

jwm@aplvax.jhuapl.edu (Jim Meritt) writes:
> Thousands, perhaps millions, of people owe their lives to something that
> you can only do with a space program.

Pardon my late entry into the spinoff debate -- but one must always remember
that resources that went to the space program were therefore not available
to go toward other uses.  We cannot know what advances would have resulted
if those resources were not in fact diverted toward space.  A good guess would
be that the advances would have been different -- but not necessarily less
important.  The possibility always exists that in diverting resources toward
space, we have actually harvested less important spinoffs than we might
otherwise have gotten.

Since this we obviously cannot predict such matters, the spinoff argument
becomes pointless.  The best we can do is leave such matters up to the choice
of individuals in the form of the free-market.

-- 
- John M. Logajan @ Network Systems; 7600 Boone Ave; Brooklyn Park, MN 55428  -
- logajan@ns.network.com / ...rutgers!umn-cs!ns!logajan / john@logajan.mn.org -