Sunday, August 07, 2005

Beyond Mars

I am anxious to know how the return of Discovery will be. It's a pity that I ain't got internet-access at work. (It's not work related for me.)

Without spaceshuttle there will be no international spacestation. The international community can't finish the building. Russia can only send men to the ship to keep it alive and to prevent it falling to the earth. So much prestige depends on NASA.
In fact the space station is a waste of money. Is that my Calvinistic view? It must be.
Robots exploring space are much more cost efficient and human lives won't be sacrified.
What is the reason that we send humans into space? We live in an era in which we are much more advanced in technology.
The answer is the prestige and nostalgia, we did it decades ago and we can still do it.
It's like a 7 times Olympic gold medal winner who has to motivate himself to win the 8th gold medal.
We should set new goals with new means; Robotics. We've had Mars, now we should go beyond. (note: mars is still a planet too far for Europe)

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