H
halman
Guest
brellis,<br /><br />Your report on the comments made by the scientist behind the development of the two Mars rovers points up an unfortunate consequence of the way that the U. S. has handled off planet exploration. Instead of assuming a leadership role, developing the new technologies needed, and then turning them over to the private sector, the government has severely underfunded NASA, to the point that developing the technologies has never been completed. Back in the late 1970's, it was widely assumed that the Space Transportation System would be in private hands by now, based on the belief that the government would completely fund the system. To work properly, the STS needed a minimum of 7 orbiters, so that launch rates would be high enough to support multiple operations off planet.<br /><br />However, Congress wasn't looking that far ahead, instead only seeing the shuttle as a scientific research tool, which therefore did not require a fleet of 7 orbiters. Nor did Congress see fit to fund the project that the shuttle was ideally suited for, building space stations. So, we ended up failing to transfer the technology to the private sector, because it was too expensive with only four orbiters to be run for profit, and we did not create a destination which would need frequent support missions.<br /><br />All of this has meant that the government has been the sole agency in off planet exploration, and that meager budgets for the work have had to be split between pure science, like the Mars rovers, and manned exploration, learning how to live and work off planet. If things had been done properly, the STS would be in private hands now, a permanent base on the Moon would be in transition to private hands, several private space stations would be beginning the third industrial revolution, creating products from resources mined on the Moon, and the government would be getting ready to launch a full-blown mission to Mars, with a large crew, reusable landing craft, and all t <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> The secret to peace of mind is a short attention span. </div>