>From: Harvey Newstrom <mail@HarveyNewstrom.com>
>Reply-To: extropians@extropy.com
>To: extropians@extropy.com
>Subject: RE: SPACE: Rumors . . .
>Date: Wed, 21 Jun 2000 23:26:10 -0400
>
>>This could be it...possible open sources of *liquid* water.
>>---
>>Sean Morgan
>>Javien Canada Inc.
>
>Woohoo! Mars, here I come!
>
>Water = Hydrogen and Oxygen. Fuel to burn, water to drink, oxygen to
>breath. Most of our supplies are already there.
Need Carbon and Nitrogen too, plus minor supplies of Sodium, Potassium,
etc.. There's Carbon there, I am not aware of Nitrogen content.
>
>Could this be why there was so much interest in finding water/ice on
>the moon, and now looking for it on Mars? Was this a deliberate
>search for resources to revive the Space Program? Is a manned-Mars
>mission the next item on the political agenda?
I don't doubt at all that NASA is hoping this will enlarge their budget. For
this reason, a very close examination of the evidence needs to be done to
see if it warrants the claims they will make. Don't take their word for it.
>
>Is this why NASA briefed the White House first? Will Al Gore promise
>to put a person on Mars in this decade?
He has stated (at least months ago) that he would not set a date as with the
apollo missions. This could possible change that, but I would not think so.
>Will Republicans fight the
>idea?
I wouldn't think so. I would guess that there is more democratic support for
NASA then republican, but I don't think of NASA as a democrat/liberal
institution any more then it is a republican/conservative one. NASA was one
of the few things Reagan increased spending on. (former president) Bush was
a supporter of space programs and asked NASA to come up with a manned
mission plan (he changed his mind when he saw the budget). The greatest cuts
in the ISS have come from Clinton.
Personally, I'd like to see NASA curl up and die. I would prefer private
enterprise to gain a foothold in space rather then government, even if it
ends up taking longer, because it will end up having stronger roots. I watch
each mission with great interest, particularly the NEAR mission going on
right now and any lunar mission, and I keep a web browser realoading
whenever there is a rendevous between a craft and a body scheduled to occur.
It's always a roll of the dice whether or not it will fail, and it's a
government project so it's very unlikely that it will in any way lead to me
being able to go anytime soon. If the first people on the moon had been
venture capitalists looking for a cheap way to launch communications
satellites, there would be cities there today.
>Will this be the next issue for Presidential Politics?
>
>(Last one on Mars is an *EARTHLING*....!)
---------------------------------------------------
Zeb Haradon (zebharadon@hotmail.com)
My personal webpage:
http://www.inconnect.com/~zharadon/ubunix
A movie I'm directing:
http://www.elevatormovie.com
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