Jack Gold
Sanders, A Lockheed Martin Company
To the Editor:
The piece
"Space Budget Cuts Produced...What?" by Joe Dean is mostly sensible.
But I was bothered (in an election year) by the implication that the Republicans
have somehow been more supportive of the space program. There is no evidence
of this.
John Glenn is of course a Democrat,
as was JFK, who got the moon program rolling in the first place. Apollo
was killed in the Nixon administration, partly due to the fiscal pressures
of the Vietnam war, hardly an attempt to cure world hunger, I might add.
Bush also canned the infamous 90-Day Report (Mars mission), without making
any serious attempt at following it up, or trying to find out if that was
really the only way to go.
Also, the right wing of the Republican
party has in recent years attempted to kill diverse items from NASA's budget,
even very small items with unknown potential such as inflatable dome technology.
Lest this letter somehow imply that the Democrats have provided better
leadership lately, I think it's clear that neither party offers vision,
interest, drive or support for a strong space program. This is not just
a budget issue. NASA would operate very differently even with just a slightly
higher budget if our leaders showed real interest in reaching well-defined
objectives, such as a Mars mission or a moon-based telescope array. As
it is, the agency has to fend mostly for itself and constantly justify
its very existence while unable to plan as far ahead as it should.
Daniel Cincunegui
To the Editor:
Regarding the opinion
published on 13 March 2000. KUDOS! The author hits the nail on the head!
Though I must say, he doesn't quite go far enough with his argument. The
money spent would only have gone to temporary solutions to humanity's truly
insoluble problems. Jesus Christ himself admits that "you will always have
the poor with you." Disease, poverty, etc. will forever plague humanity
as long as it remains HUMAN, which is to say all eternity. What we must
do is minimize it. The only way to do that without compromising the human
spirit and human freedom is to ration this planet's finite resources. Few,
if any people will like that idea. If people colonized other planets, they
would have its resources at their disposal. Greatly expanding the resources
available to humanity. And any entity which goes to the lengths necessary
to do this deserves any rewards it asks for and the gratitude of every
human being!
Oliver Lee Taylor
A reader in Portugal makes this
comment:
To the Editor:
I've read several opinions
about the need for humans in space but all arguments have focused on the
space-based field and failed to understand broader implications. I think
my contribution will help.
One major reason for space colonization
is what we can call science and culture backup. This means that in view
of our increasingly dangerous and unpredictable planet, we should consider
the protection of individuals that, due to their responsibilities on human
affairs [in areas] such as politics, science and [the] arts, are a treasure
to humanity; and their loss due to climate change, virus, wars and terrorism
would have a negative impact in the future of mankind. The threat is bigger
than the common citizen might believe. History is full of examples of societies
that were completely destroyed after the eruption of irrationality (e.g.,
religious, etc), or natural phenomena that mainly eliminated the people
with the necessary abilities to reconstruct and/or develop.
Camilo Antonio Meira da Costa
Oporto, Portugal
And finally, for now, a reader comments
on Louis Friedman's opinion piece
"Mars Exploration Needs a Human Direction." (Also, see earlier
letters.)
To the Editor:
I agree with Louis Friedman that we
should begin initiatives towards a combined robotic and human exploration
of Mars. As a college science instructor, I see that this, if done well,
will help ignite a nascent interest that many students have for exploring
the cosmos. I grew up with the excitement and possibilities of new worlds
shown first by humans in the Apollo program and then by the robotic Viking
and Voyager spacecraft. Present students only see humans in low Earth orbit,
and a few scattered robots moving beyond our own world. Only through the
flexibility and insightfulness of actual humans on Mars will we be able
to fully explore this world and answer many of its mysteries -- Questions
surrounding its geological history, atmospheric evolution, ancient hydrosphere
and whether it was, or is, an abode of life. And, eventually, whether we
may call two worlds our home, and carry the torch of life to our neighbor
Mars.
Jeb Bevers, Portland, Oregon
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