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From: jkw@lanl.ARPA (Jay Wooten)
Newsgroups: net.space
Subject: Re: Scuttle the Space Program?
Message-ID: <1479@lanl.ARPA>
Date: Tue, 25-Feb-86 17:19:42 EST
Article-I.D.: lanl.1479
Posted: Tue Feb 25 17:19:42 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 26-Feb-86 06:39:57 EST
References: <741@astrovax.UUCP>
Distribution: net
Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory
Lines: 16

> PS - On a side issue, several people have offered the opinion that dispersal
> of people throughout the Solar System and/or to the stars would offer us
> protection from self-destruction.  Surely this is a failure of imagination;
> it seems inevitable to me that our capability for destruction will grow as
> fast (faster if history is a guide) as our other capabilities....

True, but dispersal would protect against (localized) natural calamaties,
such as a large comet or meteor impact.  Humans would have to be spread
pretty widely to hold out against a supernova within a few light-years of
Earth, tho...

       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
       ~ Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare ~
       ~ The lone and level sands stretch far away................. ~
       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	  Jay Wooten  Los Alamos National Lab  ARPA:jkw@lanl.ARPA