Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!bloom-beacon!bu-cs!purdue!decwrl!labrea!rutgers!mcnc!thorin!proline!leech
From: leech@proline.cs.unc.edu (Jonathan Leech)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: SPS (was Re: NSS Board membership [boy, I'm sorry I brought Van Allen up!])
Message-ID: <6310@thorin.cs.unc.edu>
Date: 23 Jan 89 04:38:46 GMT
References: <6145@thorin.cs.unc.edu> <1989Jan15.095906.18357@utzoo.uucp> <92@beaver.cs.washington.edu> <1989Jan18.043708.27547@utzoo.uucp> <93@beaver.cs.washington.edu> <5740@cbmvax.UUCP> <96@beaver.cs.washington.edu>
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Reply-To: leech@proline.UUCP (Jonathan Leech)
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In article <96@beaver.cs.washington.edu> szabonj@uw-larry.UUCP (Nick Szabo) writes:
>In article <5740@cbmvax.UUCP> jesup@cbmvax.UUCP (Randell Jesup) writes:
>> Asteroids are very far away (energy-wise) and are unknown
>> quantities for the most part (compared to the moon).
>Because we haven't explored them.  QED.

    We have more samples of asteroidal material than lunar material,
and closeup photos of Martian moons (soon much more if Phobos
survives). Combined with spectroscopic and radar observations, there's
no question that bulk resources (iron, carbon, etc.) are readily
available in the 'roids anytime we care to fetch them. Of course we
will want to prospect for near-ideal bodies first.

    Landing 6 times on the moon does not make it a 'known quantity'
by any stretch of the imagination.
--
    Jon Leech (leech@cs.unc.edu)    __@/
    ``My goal is simple. It is complete understanding of the universe,
      why it is as it is and why it exists at all.''
	- Stephen Hawking