Probably due to the Shuttleworth flight, there's supposedly going to be a debate on space tourism on Cross Fire tonight. Unfortunately, I'll be on an airplane (on my way to the Space Access Conference in Scottsdale). It'll be interesting to see how the various players come down on the issue. Or how the issue is even defined...

I'll appreciate any reports from the readership.

I think your response to "Lori M." was right on the money. You cannot expect the human race to achieve perfection before attempting every new exploration, we are a work in progress, and will probably never achieve that mark. We carry our mistakes with us, and attempt to correct them whenever possible (some outstanding examples notwithstanding). As for the respondant's comment that we should concentrate our efforts on domestic energy alternatives instead of space travel, where do they think all of our innovations in energy production in the last 40 years came from? Space travel research.

I thought that the first person to get into space besides on his merits was Senator John Glenn, in return for 'helping' the Senate overlook Clinton's many foibles...

Of course, the spin was that NASA got valuable science on geriatric spaceflight. Which they would have not needed to collect if Glenn WASN'T paid off with the return to space that he craved...

Here's a summary of the situation in the Onion - plus a rejoinder.

http://www.theonion.com/onion3815/counterpoint_space_program.html