Hi,
As Occhi already implied, the events of 9/11 are pretty insignificant in the scope of world history. If something that comes about because of that event has a major impact, then 9/11 may take on some importance. However, we would need to cast the chronoscope forward a century or so to see if 9/11 is important or all but forgotten.
Landing on the moon may turn out to also be meaningless in the long term scope. Yes, a major accomplishment. But if nothing further comes of it (and I suspect that nothing will) then it will be remembered as is the Viking settlement of North America. A flash in the pan that could have mattered but didn't.
I see more hope of useful space settlement coming from the space station *if* NASA pulls its collective head out and *if* the American (and world) public ever support space again. Otherwise, it will be up to the multi-national corporations to do take advantage of space. Geo-synced communication and weather satellites, LEO communication networks (OK, so far they have been financial failures -- but it took PDAs a couple of trys to get it right, too), and crop/mineral scanning satellites (the descendants of LANDSAT, etc.) will be the ventures that keep us in space. And they are all driven by $$$$, not ????. If a material (chemical, biological or metallic) becomes potentially valuable but requires zero (or low) g to make, you'll see DuPont, US Steel, or Pfizer "settle" space faster than NASA can point the finger of blame (which seems to be NASA's primary function nowadays).
One of the reasons that "history" and "recent events" are not the same is that history has been filtered by the harshest filter of all, time. You may be right, you might be wrong. I'll wait and let you know in a hundred years or so. You do plan to be here then? I do. :)
--Pete
As Occhi already implied, the events of 9/11 are pretty insignificant in the scope of world history. If something that comes about because of that event has a major impact, then 9/11 may take on some importance. However, we would need to cast the chronoscope forward a century or so to see if 9/11 is important or all but forgotten.
Landing on the moon may turn out to also be meaningless in the long term scope. Yes, a major accomplishment. But if nothing further comes of it (and I suspect that nothing will) then it will be remembered as is the Viking settlement of North America. A flash in the pan that could have mattered but didn't.
I see more hope of useful space settlement coming from the space station *if* NASA pulls its collective head out and *if* the American (and world) public ever support space again. Otherwise, it will be up to the multi-national corporations to do take advantage of space. Geo-synced communication and weather satellites, LEO communication networks (OK, so far they have been financial failures -- but it took PDAs a couple of trys to get it right, too), and crop/mineral scanning satellites (the descendants of LANDSAT, etc.) will be the ventures that keep us in space. And they are all driven by $$$$, not ????. If a material (chemical, biological or metallic) becomes potentially valuable but requires zero (or low) g to make, you'll see DuPont, US Steel, or Pfizer "settle" space faster than NASA can point the finger of blame (which seems to be NASA's primary function nowadays).
One of the reasons that "history" and "recent events" are not the same is that history has been filtered by the harshest filter of all, time. You may be right, you might be wrong. I'll wait and let you know in a hundred years or so. You do plan to be here then? I do. :)
--Pete
How big was the aquarium in Noah's ark?