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Pastimes : Should U.S. attempt manned missions to the Moon? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Fangorn who wrote (9)	1/10/2004 6:38:08 PM
From: Edscharp	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 41

Fangorn, You do bring up some interesting issues. lol. If George Bush really has a concern about an asteroid hitting the Earth wouldn't it be better to be up front with Congress and the people about his concerns? It seems to me a bit dishonest to hide behind a new Moon initiative when his real hidden purpose is to preserve the human species, and the American way in particular, in the event of a disastrous & devastating asteroid strike. Also, before we start salting the Moon with our future progeny shouldn't we first give some thought to the possibility of a technology to detect asteroids and a way to destroy or deflect them? Ought this not be the greater priority? I think it's reasonable for the world to be concerned about this and to make some reasonable contingency plans for such an event, but I think it would be best if some of the world's greatest scientists were to meet and discuss the best way to approach this issue before we go flying off to the Moon. Your second point was, "Do you really want a communist dictatorship to hold that high ground alone? I don't." The way you stated this sounds really scary, but what does it really mean? If you mean 'high ground' in the tactical military sense then I am confused. The Moon is way too far away to be used in any practical military endeavor. If you mean 'high ground' in the sense of prestige and technology then I repeat what I said earlier. Let the Chinese have the Moon. How much prestige can they get out of this? We beat them to the Moon 35 years ago! Do we have to do it again? The Moon has no economic or military value. As astronomical bodies go it is more akin to a black hole that can suck up the wealth of a nation. Trust me, their prestige will evaporate in direct proportion to their national budget.