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From: preece@uicsl.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: E9 - private spacing vs govt - (nf)
Message-ID: <3250@uiucdcs.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 21-Oct-83 00:05:47 EDT
Article-I.D.: uiucdcs.3250
Posted: Fri Oct 21 00:05:47 1983
Date-Received: Sun, 16-Oct-83 10:43:31 EDT
Lines: 35

#R:houca:-40000:uicsl:10700046:000:1787
uicsl!preece    Oct 14 14:29:00 1983

					If you dont believe that people
	really wanted space sufficiently enough to support it in the private
	sector, you are really saying that you want the government to force
	your opinion that it *is* important on all those other people.
----------
One of the proper and necessary functions of government is to do things
that OUGHT to be done, even if it is not immediately obvious that they
are NECESSARY.  Government is able to distribute the cost of very large
ventures over very large numbers of people. I like the idea of space
work being done on behalf of all of us, not just those who can afford a
huge investment. Note, that's a HUGE investment:
----------
	I've often wished there were some sort of corporation that would seek
	to establish a space project (lunar base, L5-colony, etc) that I could
	invest in...  It would take 100-10000 investors with $1000 each.
----------
If you really think we can build an L-5 colony or lunar base for $10,000,000
I think I've got a bridge you'd be interested in: good location (lower East
Side), nice metalwork...  I think ten million might be enough to get a
satellite into orbit, exclusive of the cost of the satellite itself.

On the other hand, by convincing the representatives of the 250 million
residents of this country that those people ought to put up $10 apiece,
you've got $2,500,000,000. It's not enough for either project in one shot,
but continued over a few years it would get the job done. Investment on
that scale would require a consortium of the very biggest companies and
would involve huge legal hassles over whether they should be allowed to
cooperate that way (look how long it took SBS to get off the ground
with a much smaller, though huge by most standards, effort).

scott preece
pur-ee!uiucdcs!uicsl!preece