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Leave Outer Space to the Millionaires
tcd004 writes "Martin Rees, Britain's Astronomer Royal has an interesting article in Foreign Policy arguing that the future of manned space travel should be left to wealthy adventurers. He points to the fact that modern state-funded space disasters become national traumas, and argues that that gung-ho millionaires are more free to take risks because they 'don't represent a nation; [they] represent humanity.'"
I agree. Let's send all the boy bands into space.
ten bucks says someone builds a golf course on the lunar surface
Banaaaana!
Anyone else all for sending all these rich people into space (preferrably never to return)?
Wait, let's make them pay for R&D on something to shoot them with when they're up there before we launch any of 'em.
I vote for Richard Branson to be the first to cross the solar system in a nuclear powered balloon.
How small a thought it takes to fill a whole life
As long as I am the one who gets to pick which millionaires are shot into space.
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When they come back to earth, they will be forced to wear iron collars and chains because they keep saying, "Damn, dirty apes!"
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Fine by me if the RIAA millionaires shoot themselves onto the moon.
-t
Gates seems to be considering the International Space Station as a passing thru competition just like the other space missions and that Microsoft are the ones that keep pushing new technologies to further space travel.
An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
The point of the article is that the "overinflated male ego which still needs to prove that he is still sexy to any 20 year old girl" will push us to Mars and back with still enough energy to develop a working Dysan Sphere.
The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
Never underestimate the power of a good-looking 20-year old girl.
Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
But what has NASA done for us lately?
The aquaduct. And sanitation. And the roads. Medicine. Education. And the wine.
> Millionaires represent humanity?
As opposed to what socialist nonsense?
Homer Simpson, "averagenaut"?
(Oh, and thanks for the setup. I'd have posted your comment anon just so I could post this reply. But I knew someone would come thru!)
"Has [being a kidnapped teenage girl, raped repeatedly for months] changed you?" - Katie Couric to Elizabeth Smart
Millionaires represent humanity?
To the extent that the world revolves around them...
...that they don't run into ET out there. Could you imagine the first impression they get if they meet a bunch of boy bands? Excuse me, I'll just go dig a bomb shelter now...
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
I mean, how many people here would like to launch Bill Gates into outer space?
Well, at least 20 minutes from Mars orbit. That is unless wealth also buys you exemption from the laws of physics
1. Regurgitate old business idea (fried meat on a stick, etc.)
2. ???
3. Profit!
4. Blast off!
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
Steve: "Hey Bob, what was the salt content of the water that you found buried a few feet below the Martian surface?"
Bob: "Let me see your 1040... You only made $143,000 last year. I'm not telling you anything."
"When space exploration ramps up it'll be the big corporations that name everything: The IBM Stellarsphere, The Microsoft Galaxy, Planet Starbucks."
Mmmmm, sounds good...where do I sign up for my Grande Latte Enima and crap software?
"But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong" - Dennis Miller
What about their maids and butlers?
Now... where to get zero-G cooking and cleaning experience?
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
Admittedly Slashdot would have a severe problem without editorials about the DMCA and RIAA and patent suits and SCO daftness etc etc to fill its pages .... ... but just think how much extra coding time we'd have! :-)
I was so much expecting:
...Individuals know how to make other individuals. ;-)
Paul B.
It's been quantized. 1 millihelen (remember Helen of Troy?)is the amount of beauty needed to launch a single ship.
argues that that gung-ho millionaires are more free to take risks because they 'don't represent a nation; [they] represent humanity
*Watches "Shuttle Donald Trump" go up in flames*
Oh, the humanity!
NASA's budget is roughly $15 billion. It costs $12 to research and dev a new plane, and $10 to build one.
Well, that's fine then - they can do the R&D once, build 1,499,999,998 space planes and still have $8 left to spend on scratchcards!