tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23884640.post5204760743057093873..comments2024-03-22T03:13:15.710-07:00Comments on Engineering Ethics Blog: National Research Council Gives NASA a C-Kaydeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15055360323969104129noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23884640.post-40440907007948558212012-12-17T18:32:30.827-08:002012-12-17T18:32:30.827-08:00A basic problem is that all of us, around the worl...A basic problem is that all of us, around the world, have grown up reading and watching science fiction and many of us have accepted -- even fondly embraced! -- the idea that humans will someday live in space. Just like humans currently live in godforsaken uninhabitable hellholes like Topeka and Seattle and Santa Fe. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not in the next decade, but at some point within vision. It's inevitable!<br /><br />Much of the argument for having a manned space program is that this is the necessary precursor of such settlement, and much of the interest that Americans and non-Americans have in manned space programs is related to people's perceptions that space will someday be colonized, just as the Americas and the Polynesian islands and Australia were colonized. Presumably this is the sentiment referred to when US politicians talk about the importance of a space program which provides "leadership."<br /><br />But the unavoidable fact is that colonizing space is NOT a US objective, and that for the past 40 plus years, it's been this country's policy that humans -- or at least Americans -- should never and will never colonize space. A handful of astronauts for short stays in orbit to placate the dreamers and demonstrate our technological skills ... that's okay, but no more! <br /><br />At some point the gap between reality and rhetoric begins to look silly -- and the US space program is clearly getting there.<br /><br />Of course, I have great faith in US institutions. I'm sure our politicians will keep this particular ball in the air for another fifty years. mike shupphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08383379836883992742noreply@blogger.com