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From: REM@MIT-MC@sri-unix.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.space
Subject: Re: Space Station Politics
Message-ID: <12169@sri-arpa.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 6-Oct-83 00:37:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.12169
Posted: Thu Oct  6 00:37:00 1983
Date-Received: Thu, 6-Oct-83 21:50:59 EDT
Lines: 16

From:  Robert Elton Maas <REM @ MIT-MC>

One point that seems to have been missed is that it's precisely
because no company would invest 1E9 dollars in something not really
proven, that we have to get government to do it. It's these major
things that are a step forward, that are too big for any company to
risk, and with not enough payoff for the investor, but obviously good
for the nation (or world) as a whole, that we need government
(specificaly NASA) to do. If the payoff was good for the company
making the investment, with proven technology, and not much payoff for
other companies not investing or for the populace at large, the big
oil companies and conglomerates would be doing it.

Thus the comments that "gee, it's not a sure thing, no company would
do it because it's too much risk, so let's not have government do it
either" are nonsense.