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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.
We have a cure for malaria, it's called DDT (which they now know how to use safely and not cause problems for the birdies anymore) but the greenies would rather let people die. The Ugandans have a great program that has cheaply slashed AIDS infections in their country but because it relies heavily on faith groups to preach a message of behavior modification the AIDS establishment is burying Africa's biggest success story. And on it goes. The human mind and spirit can solve virtually any problem but can we fight past human greed, envy, and pettiness to implement the solution?