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Old August 10 2013, 09:26 PM   #21
Re: Should manned space flight be abandoned if only the rich benefit?

Now I hate the oppression of the poor as much as anyone...but..even if I were a terrorist, I would never strike at "Elysium," since humanity as a whole has to survive. Better them than no one. The moment they leave space infrastructure..that's another matter.

But "Elysium" gets it wrong. You see, it is the bored rich who want useless sub-orbital rides, and gov't that launched ISS.

Therefore if something like Elysium is ever built--it will be more TVA than MSN.

The problem are the space libertarians who want to raid SLS budgets to fund a bunch of sub-orbital or LEO only craft to their hearts content. They would hold BEO exploration hostage.

That having been said, I don't mind the sub-orbital folks, since there may face stiff regulation

Engineers often get it from both sides of the political spectrum. If you want flood controls and levees for poor people in the Ninth Ward, the Greens hate you because they oppose levees and dredging, and the GOP doesn't want to spend money on Flood controls because of their stingy-ness. NASA often gets caught in between as well.

The worst of all possible worlds would be a Rand Paul vs Hillary Clinton 2016 election cycle.

NASA gets screwed by either of those abominations.
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