Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ukma!xanth!lll-winken!spl1!ddsw1!corpane!sparks
From: sparks@corpane.UUCP (John Sparks)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: NSS and space settlement
Summary: Quit being so stuffy!
Message-ID: <293@corpane.UUCP>
Date: 1 Feb 89 23:38:03 GMT
References: <3225@vice.ICO.TEK.COM> <258@corpane.UUCP> <1989Jan27.075350.2215@cs.rochester.edu>
Organization: Corpane Industries, Inc., Louisville Ky
Lines: 60

First of all my first posting was a rough attempt to be humorous, but I now
realize that there are many 'stuffed shirts' out there who wouldn't know
a joke if it bit them on the ass. for instance:

In article <1989Jan27.075350.2215@cs.rochester.edu>, dietz@cs.rochester.edu (Paul Dietz) writes:
> In article <258@corpane.UUCP> sparks@corpane.UUCP (John Sparks) writes:
> 
> >AMEN! I say let's just go! Dammit! To hell with all the practical 
> >'reasons' for going to the asteroids or whatnot.
> 
> Never mind rational thought!  Let's just stampede!
> 
> >Or if you need a pratical reason ... how about the old:
> >I would rather be in a (self sufficeint) Mars colony when Earth 
> >decided to blow itself up with the big bomb.
> 
> This is not inconsistent with a program that would currently emphasize
> unmanned exploration.  We are very far away from being able to set up
> self sufficient ET colonies.  A desire to have people in space at some
> point in the future does not necessarily justify manned spaceflight in
> the present.
> 
> >besides, arguing about what will we get out of space travel is fruitless.
> >before we went to the moon, did we know that the space program would
> >bring us microwave ovens, computer chips, vcr's and let's not forget
> >Space Food Sticks???
> 
> This spinoff argument is bogus.  We'd have had all of these anyway
> (expect perhaps Space Food Sticks; small loss).  I believe studies have
> failed to show any widespread technological impetus directly attributable
> to the space program.  That does not prevent the argument from being
> repeated by PR hacks and the credulous.
> 
> 	Paul F. Dietz


Wake up Paul! you aren't going into space, I doubt if I ever will. especially
if people keep thinking like you!!!!!!!! 

The spinoff is not bogus. sure we probably would have had all these things
eventually. but to deny that they were invented sooner because of space
travel is bogus also. When you have  hundreds of engineers with a set goal
to reach and obsticles in the way, they tend to discover/invent new 
technology to tear away these obsticles. hardly anything gets invented
until it needs to be. but once it is here you can be sure that there will
be lots of other uses for it, spinoffs and such. 

go ahead flame me! All this bean counting is making me bored anyway.


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John Sparks      // Amiga  |  corpane : sparks@corpane 
  a.k.a        \X/  UUCP   |  blitter : john@blitter (preferred; path below) 
 RedHawk       ~~~~~~~~~~~~|  {rutgers|uunet}!ukma!corpane!disk!blitter!john 
               D.R.A.G.O.N.|  >> call D.I.S.K. @ 502/968-5401 thru -5406 <<
Ye Quote:
Cheerio-Magnetics: The tendency of the last few cheerios in a bowl of milk
to cling together for survival.
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