Benford on Space Exploration

gid-goo writes "Gregory Benford looks at what we should do in the aftermath of the Columbia accident. Is the shuttle, or the International Space Station for that matter, useful? Or just payola to aerospace interests and a means for keeping Russian rocket scientists employed?" Benford's comments about the necessity of a closed biosphere and of some way for astronauts to stop muscle and bone loss are far more insightful than the usual discussions about where our space exploration priorities should lie.

Comments

Re:Nice Article, but

[Vishi Troll 182]

Let's say! Again Americans. You all rally behind your bush. But what is the real issue. Your tax dollars. All of this cold war "USA is better, Russia is better." GO PLAY ON THE PLAYGROUND. In the end both are good countries. Just whichever you choose. Like a car. Each has its strong points and weak points. Make your deicion carefully. oh and one more thing. have any of you "AMERICA IS BETTER THAN CHINA" ever stopped to appreciate and respect yours of government. Hail to your homeland

Re:What I'd like to see

[rela]

I'd also like to see a space elevator persued, but I don't know that we have the tech yet. Then again, I haven't looked into it that much either.

I've never bought the space elevator idea. Objects in orbit haven't been NAILED UP THERE, after all. What do they expect to hold up the cable?

Re:The Dutch didn't Pay for them

[groomed]

The US has killed millions of innocent people in several large-scale conflicts of dubious merit over the past 50 years. The US routinely strongarms other countries to protect its own interests. The US was a racially segregated country for most of the past century. US protectionism prevents cheap medicine from getting to the people who needs it most. Most people have little reason to be grateful.

Meanwhile, the US owes over 6 trillion dollars in debt. Where did that money come from? Exactly. So as long as you're spending our money you'd better heed the day of reckoning.

No, not a nice article

[uncleFester]

I'm sorry, but it was a bullshit article. I stopped reading at the line...

Early results from the telemetry and the huge debris field suggest that the thermal tiles failed. .. because we have been told all week in the tech briefings not to purport conjecture or assumption of what happened yet because we do not know. As this ass demonstrates, he has no grasp on that simple concept and thus failed any such integrety test.