From: Walter Watts (wlwatts@cox.net)
Date: Sun Jan 11 2004 - 16:11:06 MST
We can't afford to terraform Mars.
We've spent all our money terraforming Iraq.
Yaba daba do.
Remember, like the fellow said of the universe:
Muslims are not weirder than we imagine. They're weirder than we CAN imagine.
Walter
<cowering from the thought of tampon burka bombs>
Dr Sebby wrote:
> ...oh i agree with you Mermaid; his reasons are never for anyones benefit
> but his own, but in this time of turmoil any way we can funnel money to NASA
> is that much less spent on big things that go "boom".
>
> ...by the way, why isnt anyone tinkering with a lander that could visit
> Europa and get underneath that ice. it seems a dead certainty that there
> would be abundant and i'm guessing rather progressive life forms down there.
> is it too far away for us to remotely control it or something? what are
> the difficulties in such a venture?
>
> DrSebby.
> "Courage...and shuffle the cards".
>
> ----Original Message Follows----
> From: "Mermaid" <hidden@lucifer.com>
> Reply-To: virus@lucifer.com
> To: virus@lucifer.com
> Subject: Re: virus: terraforming mars
> Date: Sat, 10 Jan 2004 03:39:09 -0700
>
> [quote from: DrSebby on 2004-01-10 at 01:11:22]
> ...if bush could somehow push some financing towards such a moon venture, i
> would see it as a much deserved albeit out of place gesture of humanity
> before he is banished from office.
>
> [Mermaid]you think? here ya go....bush *does* seems to have the idea to
> colonise the moon...
>
> imo, it seems like yet another election promise..like the one about
> legalising all hispanic illegal immigrants. but then again, bush might have
> genuine interest in claiming the moon and the red planet for J.C.
>
> Bush Plans Missions to the Moon, Mars
>
> By MARCIA DUNN, AP Aerospace Writer
>
> CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - President Bush (news - web sites) is planning a
> permanent science base for astronauts on the moon that could serve as a
> steppingstone for sending humans ultimately on to Mars, according to senior
> administration officials.
>
> The president wants to aggressively reinvigorate the space program, still
> reeling from the Columbia tragedy nearly one year ago, said the officials,
> speaking on condition of anonymity.
>
> White House press secretary Scott McClellan confirmed that Bush would
> deliver a speech Wednesday describing his vision of the long-term direction
> of the space program, but he did not reveal what Bush would say.
>
> "The president is strongly committed to the exploration of space," McClellan
> said Friday.
>
> A major question is how to pay for an expensive space initiative while the
> nation is struggling with record budget deficits and the high costs of the
> war against terrorism.
>
> McClellan said that the White House budget office was involved in the
> administration's space review, and that Bush will "put forth a responsible
> budget that meets our highest priorities while working to hold the line of
> spending elsewhere in the budget."
>
> A Nobel-winning physicist who investigated the shuttle accident is among
> those who would rather see more affordable robots — rather than astronauts —
> exploring the lunar and Martian surfaces. He points to NASA (news - web
> sites)'s Spirit rover newly arrived at Mars.
>
> "The cost of a manned enclave on the moon, I think, is going to make the
> space station look cheap. That's the only good thing about it," said
> Stanford University's Douglas Osheroff.
>
> In any event, "I think we're still 30 years from going to Mars and if
> there's any reason to do that, I don't know," Osheroff said.
>
> NASA officials did not return phone calls.
>
> Bush does not intend to propose sending Americans to Mars anytime soon, but
> instead envisions preparing for a Mars expedition more than a decade from
> now, one administration official said.
>
> The White House has been looking for a new revitalizing role for NASA for
> months, with Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) leading the
> interagency task force since summer. The speculation over a major space
> initiative began heating up in early December.
>
> Rep. Ralph Hall, R-Texas, a member of the House Science Committee, welcomed
> the news that Bush would be making an announcement about space.
>
> Hall said he has long been trying to get the president more interested in
> space exploration. The president never went to Johnson Space Center in
> Houston while serving as Texas governor; in fact, last February's memorial
> service for the seven Columbia astronauts was his first visit.
>
> Bush's fresh interest in space happens to coincide with an election year. A
> new bold space initiative, it is thought, could excite Americans.
>
> "I had the feeling the last 2 1/2 years people would rather make a trip to
> the grocery store than a trip to the moon because of the economy," Hall
> said. "As things are turning around, we need to stay in touch with space"
> and the science spinoffs it provides.
>
> It was the Columbia accident that helped force a discussion of where NASA
> should venture beyond the three remaining space shuttles and the
> international space station. The panel that investigated the disaster called
> for a clearly defined long-term mission — a national vision for space that
> has been missing for three decades.
>
> Astronauts last walked on the moon in 1972; in all, 12 men tread the lunar
> surface over a 3 1/2-year period. This time, the president favors a
> permanent station, administration officials said.
>
> Bush's father, on the 20th anniversary of the first manned moon landing,
> made a similar call for lunar colonies and a Mars expedition. But the plan
> was prohibitively expensive — an estimated $400 billion to $500 billion —
> and went nowhere.
>
> No one knows what the new venture might cost or how NASA would pay for it.
>
> House Science Committee spokeswoman Heidi Tringe said lawmakers on the panel
> had yet to be briefed on the specifics.
>
> Earlier this week, Bush put in a congratulatory call to officials in charge
> of NASA's latest Mars rover. He called the Spirit rover's successful landing
> a "reconfirmation of the American spirit of exploration." Another rover is
> due to arrive at the red planet in two weeks.
>
> Many space buffs see the moon as a necessary place to test the equipment and
> techniques that would be needed by astronauts on Mars. It's closer, just
> three days away versus six months away for the red planet.
>
> Visionaries say observatories could be built on the moon and mining camps
> could gather helium-3 for conversion into fuel for use back on Earth.
>
> Others, however, contend that astronauts should make a beeline to Mars.
>
> Still others, including John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth,
> believes the nation should complete and fully maximize the international
> space station before dashing anywhere else.
>
> ___
>
> Associated Press writer Scott Lindlaw contributed to this story from
> Washington.
>
> link:
> http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040109/ap_on_go_pr_wh/back_to_the_moon_4DE
>
> ----
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