AC%MIT-OZ@MIT-MC.ARPA (01/12/84)
From: Anthony J. Courtemanche <AC%MIT-OZ@MIT-MC.ARPA> I hope I do not sound like I'm flaming but I am a bit concerned with this talk of significantly altering our solar system. What gives us the right to nuke Venus or any other planet or moon in the hopes that it will make it habitable? We have done much to destroy Terra's ecology, so now we must work on other places??!! It seems to me that until Mankind learns to be responsible enough to take care of his own planet, he should lay off trying to change other planets to suit his needs. Anthony ac@mit-oz -------
eder@ssc-vax.UUCP (01/16/84)
My dictionary says that an ecology is the "totality of the interrel-
ationships among organisms and their environment". If there is no life
outside the Earth in our Solar System, there is no ecology to disturb.
One of the reasons I support space development is it will allow
us to learn how ecologies work. By setting up independant ecologies
on space stations and settlements, we can run controlled experiments
such experiments on the Earth for any number of good reasons, one
being you can't get controlled enough conditions, another being people
get annoyed when you mess with an existing ecology.
DaniEder
Boeing Aerospace
ssc-vax!eder