Re: starship-design: The Space Phase

[KellySt@aol.com]

In a message dated 12/15/01 7:39:05 AM, lparker@cacaphony.net writes:

>The Space Phase
>
>
>
>Los Angeles - Nov 11, 2001
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>Why don't we have the spacefaring future we imagined? Several writers in
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>this space have provided answers. But a recent remark of editor Simon
>
>Mansfield caused a perspective shift: rather than wondering why, he asked
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>"what happened?" Stepping back from the details brought the answer into
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>focus.


This guy has a lot of imagry and not a wit of insight.  The space race was a 
successful political PR battle across th world.  It was done at all costs, 
and that doesn't develope efficent systems.  The legacy's of that are a huge 
"space program" buracracy with little to do but defend its turf from 
intruders,  extreamly expensive systems that are most cost efective only if 
you have no interest in using them often, and a concept of space flight as a 
immensely expensive and nearly imposible activity done for show.

This isn't a reflection of dinosaur industrial age mind set.  Frankly e
veryone that uses phrases like that trips up.  All the folks in the dot.com 
collapses ran their companies based on slogans like that.