Paul Spudis has some useful thoughts. I think that confusion on this issue is one of the causes of our current space policy mess, particularly with regard to human spaceflight.
One thought on “What Is Exploration?”
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Paul Spudis has some useful thoughts. I think that confusion on this issue is one of the causes of our current space policy mess, particularly with regard to human spaceflight.
Comments are closed.
Well, the only caveat I would place on his otherwise excellent points is that the infrastructure development phase of previous ages of exploration were not, in general, national efforts paid for by taxes. It’s difficult, logically, to argue that (1) exploration should consist also of the construction of an infrastructure for the accomplishment of a million private dreams, and (2) that construction should be a national project, at public expense, directed by Congress.
I’m not saying Spudis says antyhing of the sort, of course. Just that this distinction should be clearly drawn for the ordinary recipients of an argument like this. That is, the point should be made that the fondest wish of the adherents of a more entrepreneurial and less “science” appraoch to space is not that the government fund it, but that government get out of the way of its private capitalization.