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Posted by Jim Burns on July 29, 2005, 2:27 am
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I revised this a couple of days ago, from something I wrote a while
back... How sad, that in just the last day, another setback...
___
It's exhilirating that the shuttle has returned to orbit, but those of
who grew up with the promise of the original space program know what
much further wonders, could have been ours, by now. Had government
funding, and policy, been further expended during the Apollo era, many
of the marvels shown in such science fiction films as 2001: A SPACE
ODYSSEY (lensed in 1968), could have been, today, not future
possibilities, but past accomplishments.
For over three decades, many visionary space goals have been thwarted by
those who don't believe that there's a tangible benefit to a manned
presence, in space.
(In the early years of his first administration, Richard Nixon, for
example, cancelled a NASA program that aimed to have a man on Mars, by
1980!)
It can still be daunting, to contemplate all of the benefits that might
have ensued, had we pursued what once seemed to be NASA's, and the
world's, implicit destiny.
But, since 9/11, I've been haunted by another thought:
Would the Muslim fundamentalists, and those others who call the United
States "the Great Satan," have been able to feel the same way, if we had
already achieved our vast space stations, and colonies on the moon?
Could they really have believed that the devil had a home, in the
heavens?
Jim Burns
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Posted by John Horner on July 29, 2005, 8:09 am
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Jim Burns wrote:
show/hide quoted text
<snip>
>
> But, since 9/11, I've been haunted by another thought:
>
> Would the Muslim fundamentalists, and those others who call the United
> States "the Great Satan," have been able to feel the same way, if we had
> already achieved our vast space stations, and colonies on the moon?
>
> Could they really have believed that the devil had a home, in the
> heavens?
>
> Jim Burns
>
You were on a good roll in the snipped portion of your post, but
completely lost the plot at the end. The Islamic fundamentalists who
are willing to use any means available in their attempt to achieve their
dubious ends care not one bit how many people western societies have put
into space. That issue is so far off the radar screen it isn't even funny.
There are plenty of things worth loosing sleep over, but your What-If is
not one of them.
John
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Posted by Brian Gaff on July 29, 2005, 8:40 am
Please log in for more thread options Philosophy is not my strong point, but I think we as humans, not just
citizens of a particular country, needs to accept that there is something
about our race which pushes us to understand our universe as much as we can.
There is also the gut feeling of hands on being the best way even for
distant worlds.
I'm still not sure if the feeling is justifiable, but, we are I think,
supposed to enjoy our time here, and it seems also that many people do not.
So the fact that we have invented value and various forms of society are
the reasons for conflict as it boils down, in the end, to money. If we had
no ethic of value as we have now, we could do anything.
My brain hurts.
Brian
--
Brian Gaff....Note, this account does not accept Bcc: email.
graphics are great, but the blind can't hear them
Email: briang1@blueyonder.co.uk
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
show/hide quoted text
> I revised this a couple of days ago, from something I wrote a while
> back... How sad, that in just the last day, another setback...
> ___
> It's exhilirating that the shuttle has returned to orbit, but those of
> who grew up with the promise of the original space program know what
> much further wonders, could have been ours, by now. Had government
> funding, and policy, been further expended during the Apollo era, many
> of the marvels shown in such science fiction films as 2001: A SPACE
> ODYSSEY (lensed in 1968), could have been, today, not future
> possibilities, but past accomplishments.
> For over three decades, many visionary space goals have been thwarted by
> those who don't believe that there's a tangible benefit to a manned
> presence, in space.
> (In the early years of his first administration, Richard Nixon, for
> example, cancelled a NASA program that aimed to have a man on Mars, by
> 1980!)
> It can still be daunting, to contemplate all of the benefits that might
> have ensued, had we pursued what once seemed to be NASA's, and the
> world's, implicit destiny.
> But, since 9/11, I've been haunted by another thought:
> Would the Muslim fundamentalists, and those others who call the United
> States "the Great Satan," have been able to feel the same way, if we had
> already achieved our vast space stations, and colonies on the moon?
> Could they really have believed that the devil had a home, in the
> heavens?
> Jim Burns
>
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>
> But, since 9/11, I've been haunted by another thought:
>
> Would the Muslim fundamentalists, and those others who call the United
> States "the Great Satan," have been able to feel the same way, if we had
> already achieved our vast space stations, and colonies on the moon?
>
> Could they really have believed that the devil had a home, in the
> heavens?
>
> Jim Burns
>