andy@aids-unix@sri-unix.UUCP (07/21/83)
From: Andy Cromarty <andy@aids-unix> Has anyone ever really considered just how expensive space exploration really is? [From <TMCGUINNESS@USC-ISIE>] There are a variety of reasons for pursuing space exploration. Notable among them: Many people believe that space may be the only hope for continuance of the species (assuming that's a desirable thing) because of the high risk to racial survival we impose upon ourselves through everything from population growth to the possibility of nuclear war. Perhaps a reasonable counter-question is, "Have you considered the cost of NOT exploring space?". I'm not against the expenditures of funds for military space programs, or for things like Space Telescope or IRAS but these projects all represent a sort of Big Think that will keep space as an area where you place sensors or weapons rather than an area for resource exploitation or human development. It's important to distinguish between what we want and how we can get it. Probably most space exploration advocates (and certainly all the non-military ones I personally know) are interested seeing peaceful exploration and, usually, colonization and "development" of space -- in other words, "resource exploitation or human development". The people with the money to fund these ventures, however, have a rather different list of priorities. Since (all our collective flaming notwithstanding) the viability of commercial uses of space is not as yet established, the fast path to space development would seem to be through governmental (including military) money. Whether or not one approves of such an approach to funding, it has historically been the case that government tends to absorb development costs for projects that seem worthwhile but are too large or high-risk to attract commercial capital. (Trivial example: I believe that the Wright brothers were partly funded by the U.S. Army.) ...what is the maximum percentage probability of fatal accident that you would accept to live on an L-5 colony or participate in a manned lunar base? This would seem to be a red herring. We needn't make the decision for anyone other than ourselves, and I would certainly go given the degree of risk I would expect to encounter in, say, a two-year-old lunar colony. The problem is not (and has never been) finding volunteers willing to accept the risk; it has been finding the funding for those willing to undertake the risk. trying to temper hope with pragmatism, asc