Hi,
To encourage inovation and research in areas that are being neglected.
While that is true in general, it does not apply to this case. Consider what can be learned from developing a manned mission to another planet:
1 Exploration of that planet -- can be done better and cheaper with unmanned platforms.
2 Ability to navigate in space -- we've had that since the mid sixties.
3 Ability to live in a hostile environment on a planet -- did that on the Moon, have been doing that in Antarctica.
4 Ability to survive long periods in space -- that's the function of the space station. And of Mir before that and of Skylab before that.
The reality is that there is a limited research budget. The priority for space research is and should be relatively low. To use the space portion of the research budget on a program that does not yield a large amount of information or technology is to waste it. This program, like most wasteful programs will not survive to be executed, and any funds spent on it are funds flushed.
--Pete
To encourage inovation and research in areas that are being neglected.
While that is true in general, it does not apply to this case. Consider what can be learned from developing a manned mission to another planet:
1 Exploration of that planet -- can be done better and cheaper with unmanned platforms.
2 Ability to navigate in space -- we've had that since the mid sixties.
3 Ability to live in a hostile environment on a planet -- did that on the Moon, have been doing that in Antarctica.
4 Ability to survive long periods in space -- that's the function of the space station. And of Mir before that and of Skylab before that.
The reality is that there is a limited research budget. The priority for space research is and should be relatively low. To use the space portion of the research budget on a program that does not yield a large amount of information or technology is to waste it. This program, like most wasteful programs will not survive to be executed, and any funds spent on it are funds flushed.
--Pete
How big was the aquarium in Noah's ark?