Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!wucs1!wucs2!dadent!jas
From: jas@dadent (Jay Shrauner)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Re: Letter to Congress, et. al.
Message-ID: <947@wucs2.UUCP>
Date: 1 Sep 88 15:12:25 GMT
References: <1365@eos.UUCP> <13294@jumbo.dec.com> <1765@eneevax.UUCP>
Sender: usenet@wucs2.UUCP
Reply-To: jas@dadent.UUCP (Jay Shrauner)
Organization: Washington University
Lines: 33

In article <1765@eneevax.UUCP> kerog@eneevax.umd.edu.UUCP (Keith Rogers) writes:
>In article <13294@jumbo.dec.com> stolfi@src.dec.com (Jorge Stolfi) writes:
>>
>>In other words, we must waste billions in pointless manned missions
>>today, to develop the technology needed to waste MORE billions in MORE
>>pointless manned missions tomorrow.  
>
> POINTLESS MISSIONS?!!!  How can you say that!  ...
>                                              ...  The other *points* to 
>establishing a permanent manned presence in space are far too numerous to go
>through here.  Suffice it to say that you are full of shit.

While I happen to be a big fan of manned space exploration, there are a few
well known facts about manned space missions.  First of all, far far more
scientific data useful to man has been obtained through unmanned probes
than anything gained from manned missions.  Sure, we have a few moon rocks
and such and one could argue that unmanned probes couldn't have been built
cheaper to retrieve them all the same, but they hardly compare to the
information about our solar system we have gained from the Pioneers, Voyagers,
Mariners, etc.  Nifty experients can be done on live TV in the Space Shuttle
to please many people but the bottom line is that currently the US of A space
program is still living off of data from the still operable Voyagers, etc.

>>>   NASA's FY89 budget request of $11.488 billion seems very small
>>>   when compared to [$300 billion for DoD, $50 billion for Texas
>>>   bank bailout,] and other expenditures.  

This point I must agree with.  While we're at it, however, as seen from the
space shuttle disaster probably spending more to EDUCATE people wouldn't hurt
either.

Jay Shrauner
jas@dadent.wustl.edu