Asri-unix.686
net.space
utzoo!decvax!duke!chico!harpo!cbosg!teklabs!ucbcad!ARPAVAX:C70:sri-unix!REM@MIT-MC
Thu Feb  4 00:08:19 1982
post script --> Space isn't just art
The Voyager pictures are indeed a work of art, but not very expensive,
I've heard it's about one six-pack of beer per person of this country.
Most works of art are much more expensive for the number of people
who can see them and appreciate them. (All we need to do is distribute
prints of the best of the Voyager pictures to each and every citizen,
and we'll truly have the cheapest masterpiece of art ever produced.)

The rest of the space program is science, not art, mostly. We get
vast amounts of crucial information that is a first step towards
engineering to actually make use of space for our benefit. Science
always comes first, then a lot of hard engineering, then profit.
Thus I don't agree with your claim that the space program is just
an expensive work of art with spinoff. It's a medium-priced science
project with some artistic spinoff and also some random-product spinoff.