The President's Space Initiative Speech

"Big John" wrote in message
...
I've still got my Abacus and 'Slip Stick', Log Log Decitrig (sp), that
I can use when the energy runs out and we go back to the caves and
bear skins. Still have the instruction book to refresh operations. G

I take out every few years and run the slide to keep smooth for
precision operation.

Kids. Bah humbug. I have one of those fancy new fangled slip-sticks, too.
I'm trying to find some Napier's bones and an abacus however.

"William W. Plummer" wrote:

I'm trying to find some Napier's bones and an abacus however.

It's not very hard to find an abacus in this neck of the woods. My wife uses one
to keep track of stiches on complex knitting patterns.

George Patterson
Great discoveries are not announced with "Eureka!". What's usually said is
"Hummmmm... That's interesting...."

Jeb wrote:

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:krlNb.68069$I06.307311@attbi_s01...
I think Bush is comatose. You see him as a genius. Therefore one of us
is
a
fool and I think that you are it.

No, he's no genius. But he does have that "vision thing" when it comes
to space exploration -- something this nation (and the world) is sorely
lacking.

Now it'll be up to your kind to kill the dream again.

When asked about the environment Bush said he was planning to visit it one
day.

Forgive me for jumping in sideways here, as my newsreader (server???)
isn't providing me with all there is, but:

In a discussion I had with my father one evening shortly after Bush
decided we're going back to the moon, it was mentioned that the reason
wasn't so much that Bush wants to go there, or has any vision. The reason
was that there was some country that has developed its own space program
and if there /is/ another moon race, we can't be any other than first to
get there. Of course, the moon is a pretty big place, but it's a lot
smaller than mother Earth. Now, if another country gets to the moon
first, if we're not right there on their heels, we'll fall behind...
other countries get control of the moon, and have an excellent view of
more than they should, with an excellent spot from which,
hypothetically of course, to launch a missile attack if they wanted.

Of course, that's just /one/ scenario, and it may be way off line. BUT:
I think the point is that there is something more than just a President
who's off on his own little cloud. I think there is a behind-the-curtain
reason for going to the moon. Regardless, if any national entity makes a
shot for the moon, our nation has to be right with them to remain in a
position of power, and that's all any of this is really about, is power.

That's my view, anyway. Frankly, I couldn't care less if we go or not.
If we're ever going to get off this planet in a semi-permanent sense,
we'll need a base somewhere, and it's a lot easier to build on Luna Firma
than it will be to build a satellite base with a decaying orbit. Then
again, it will be further away and be more costly to service, but at least
its orbit won't crash it into the atmosphere anytime in the next several
millenia.

My 2 cents.
--
--x _x | CJ Chitwood
| | |_|___ _ _ ____x | Unregistered Linux User # 18,000,002
| |_| | , | | |\ \/ |
|____|_|_|_|___|/\_\ | Sink the ship to reply by e-mail

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:krlNb.68069$I06.307311@attbi_s01...
I think Bush is comatose. You see him as a genius. Therefore one of
us
is
a
fool and I think that you are it.

First of all, please be careful how you cut and paste. I didn't write the
above "quote" attributed to me.

Of course, that's just /one/ scenario, and it may be way off line. BUT:
I think the point is that there is something more than just a President
who's off on his own little cloud. I think there is a behind-the-curtain
reason for going to the moon.

I don't think there's any defensive (or offensive) military advantage to a
moon base over current ICBM or satellite/space station technology.

We need to be in space for scientific and exploration reasons. Bush's plan
would accomplish precisely that.

Sadly, powerful members of Congress are doing everything possible to kill
the initiative.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:krlNb.68069$I06.307311@attbi_s01...
I think Bush is comatose. You see him as a genius. Therefore one of
us
is
a
fool and I think that you are it.

First of all, please be careful how you cut and paste. I didn't write the
above "quote" attributed to me.

I did not attribute the quote to you. Looking at the number of
greater-than signs preceding the text, one can calculate that the quote
was attributed to someone you quoted. However, the appropriate quotee's
name was not included in the quoter's quote, nor the quoter's quoted
quote, so I don't know whose it was, as, like I said, my
newsreader/newsserver isn't giving me full archives for some reason. I do
believe that what you said started with "No, he's no genius" and that you
said he had vision, but to me, it doesn't really matter who said what.
It's a newsgroup, on the Internet, and mistakes will be made.

Of course, that's just /one/ scenario, and it may be way off line. BUT:
I think the point is that there is something more than just a President
who's off on his own little cloud. I think there is a
behind-the-curtain reason for going to the moon.

I don't think there's any defensive (or offensive) military advantage to a
moon base over current ICBM or satellite/space station technology.

I believe you're probably right, but by the same token, the U.S. has been
called "Imperialistic" before. If someone else goes to the moon, we're
going to have to go too, even if for no other reason than to have a
presence. I really don't care anyway.

We need to be in space for scientific and exploration reasons. Bush's
plan would accomplish precisely that.

There are, of course, those who would say that all the science and
exploration there is to do on the moon has already been done.

But if he's for science and information, then why did he agree to killing
off the Hubble project? It still has tons of science and research it will
be capable of, and is still perfectly useful from what I've read.

And a Hell of a lot less expensive than building a moon base.

Sadly, powerful members of Congress are doing everything possible to
kill the initiative.

I have no problem with going or staying. What I have a problem with is
paying. How will it be funded?

--
--x _x | CJ Chitwood
| | |_|___ _ _ ____x | Unregistered Linux User # 18,000,002
| |_| | , | | |\ \/ |
|____|_|_|_|___|/\_\ | Sink the ship to reply by e-mail

Circuit Breaker wrote:
But if he's for science and information, then why did he agree to killing
off the Hubble project? It still has tons of science and research it will
be capable of, and is still perfectly useful from what I've read.

FYI. The Hubble is being phased out for two reasons. One is that there's
a "next generation" space telescope presently in development. The second
is directly related to the scaling back of shuttle flights (until a next
generation shuttle can be built). Hubble's fine right now, and will
continue to send back usefull science data, but needs periodic maintenance
to keep it working. Canceling the shuttle servicing missions effectively
phases out the Hubble.

--- Jay


--
__!__
Jay and Teresa Masino ___(_)___
http://www2.ari.net/jmasino ! ! !
http://www.oceancityairport.com
http://www.oc-adolfos.com

Jay Masino opined

Circuit Breaker wrote:
But if he's for science and information, then why did he agree to killing
off the Hubble project? It still has tons of science and research it will
be capable of, and is still perfectly useful from what I've read.

FYI. The Hubble is being phased out for two reasons. One is that there's
a "next generation" space telescope presently in development. The second
is directly related to the scaling back of shuttle flights (until a next
generation shuttle can be built). Hubble's fine right now, and will
continue to send back usefull science data, but needs periodic maintenance
to keep it working. Canceling the shuttle servicing missions effectively
phases out the Hubble.

The new Webb telescope is not going to be a true Hubble replacement. THe
Hubble sees from Infrared to Ultraviolet. For a number of reasons, Webb goes
from long IR to red. ANd even with its greater size it will have lower
resolution than Hubble.

Hubble needs to be saved!

-ash
Cthulhu for President!
Why vote for a lesser evil?