Dale.Amon@FAS.RI.CMU.EDU (01/08/86)
A few mentions have been made about the Van Allen article in Scientific
American, so I have decided to post here the letter I have sent to that
magazine:
Dear sirs:
If nothing else, one must give Dr. Van Allen credit for
consistancy; he has been taking pot shots at manned space flight
for 25 years.
Even if I were to agree with his many points (which I do
not), it would matter little. There is a great deal of support
for building a civilization that is not dependant on one small
and resource limited planet, and this support goes beyond
arguments based on such short term thinking.
For all too long, those of us who share the dream have tried
to couch it in terms of 'spinoffs' and immediate returns. I have
no doubt that the returns will be there and that they will be
large. But the real motivation for going is that we are human and
we are inquisitive, adventurous creatures. We need frontiers, and
I do not mean frontiers for a few of us who are highly educated
scientists. The vicarious thrill of a Star Wars movie will not
succeed as bread and circuses to keep the masses occupied while a
few members of an elite pore over their data. The frontier
belongs to all who are willing to go.
Space is a place, not a mission. There is room for Dr. Van
Allen's research, and there is also room for the generations
which follow us to live, work and play.
From my childhood on, I have always considered manned space
flight the main event. We send probes not just for the sake of
sending probes, but as scouts in the advance guard of HUMAN
exploration. The primary motivation of the people who support
space exploration is NOT "I want to watch". It is "I want to GO!"