Return-path: X-Andrew-Authenticated-as: 7997;andrew.cmu.edu;Ted Anderson Received: from beak.andrew.cmu.edu via trymail for +dist+/afs/andrew.cmu.edu/usr11/tm2b/space/space.dl@andrew.cmu.edu (->+dist+/afs/andrew.cmu.edu/usr11/tm2b/space/space.dl) (->ota+space.digests) ID ; Sat, 19 May 90 01:55:48 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: Reply-To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU From: space-request+@Andrew.CMU.EDU To: space+@Andrew.CMU.EDU Date: Sat, 19 May 90 01:55:18 -0400 (EDT) Subject: SPACE Digest V11 #425 SPACE Digest Volume 11 : Issue 425 Today's Topics: Re: Manned mission to Venus Re: why there are no ETs ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 18 May 90 20:17:00 GMT From: mcgill-vision!quiche!calvin!msdos@bloom-beacon.mit.edu (Mark SOKOLOWSKI) Subject: Re: Manned mission to Venus In article <8524.26527a0f@pbs.uucp> pstinson@pbs.uucp writes: >Maybe the average person does not care about Moon colonies now because they ARE >just imaginary. But a real colony on the Moon that has grown large enough to >be visible from Earth will have a profound impact on humanity. Imagine looking >up at the Moon some evening and noticing the glow of manmade lights and other >indirect signs of human activity up there. It is sometimes said "Out of sight >... out of mind." No activity on any of the other planets in the solar system >will be noticible to the unaided eye and perhaps the man in the street would > care less what happens way out there, but big active moon colonies would be > hard to ignore and will have a definite cultural impact we underestimate now. It depends. This kind of thing is already achieved by Mir which I was able to see many times each month just by looking up a few minutes after dusk every clear evening, not talking about the tens of other large satellites having a lower but still proeminant visibility. Does it really make a big cultural impact???? And beside, a good fireworks display is a million times more impressive than some glowing lightness lost on our natural satellite. And what about the fact that by 2000, 1 out of 2 humans will live in the city, where the most advanced astronomical achievement, given the average knowledge on the subject, will be FIGURING OUT THAT VENUS OR SIRIUS ARE NOT UFO's. Come on! We have to be realistic about what we can do in space for now. We are only a few interested in space, so let's be selfish, egoistic, do only great things for ourselves (Sorry guys, we have no choice, sending spacecrafts costs billions, so LET'S FIGHT!!!). France and England WERE SPENDING 30 to 50% of their GNP on the exploration of the New World and other colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries, and if it isn't happening now for the States and USSR, it simply means that large space colonies will not be usefull for the next 1 or 2 CENTURIES. Since it is really long term, I prefer impressive one-shot projects that will at least leave a trace, put it in minds. It remembers me my high-school graduation ceremony were everybody was telling those always boring speeches falling within the realm of banality, and when it came to my turn, I simply stood up, raised my fist, and shouted "SEE YOU ON MARS IN 20 YEARS!!!" (that's a translation, my true words were in french: "RENDEZ VOUS SUR MARS DANS 20 ANS!!!!"). Nobody laughed, perhaps because I looked so serious. I guess my teachers and the director will know something about space exploration from now on... Too bad Bush has fixed the deadline in 30 years (I have 17 left now), and that I want to first go to Venus. Mark S. ------- ------------------------------ Date: 18 May 90 01:26:57 GMT From: bfmny0!tneff@uunet.uu.net (Tom Neff) Subject: Re: why there are no ETs In article <1716@nvuxr.UUCP> deej@nvuxr.UUCP (David Lewis) writes: >Somehow, I think that by the time we achieve interstellar travel or >communication (beyond splashing RF out all over the place), we won't >have much trouble dealing with a few pesky asteroids... If there's nobody to talk to (because the unknown someone kills them), then we won't have much cause to perfect interstellar communication beyond the "splashing RF" approach. And if "splashing RF" is enough to attract attention from the u.s., we might not get the chance to move to later phases anyway. I would suggest in general that it's easier to learn how to fly to Sirius than it is how to deflect a *big* asteroid. If one day Earth does muster some deflection capability -- there was a UPI article on the subject just the other day -- it's safe to assume we won't be ready for two or three of them at once, or even two in rapid succession. -- "NASA Awards Acronym Generation :(%( : Tom Neff System (AGS) Contract For Space : )%): tneff%bfmny@UUNET.UU.NET Station Freedom" - release 1989-9891 :(%( : ...!uunet!bfmny0!tneff ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest V11 #425 *******************