tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6111215700023427447.post621809657388561422..comments2024-01-24T06:57:48.531-05:00Comments on Potentia Tenebras Repellendi: Why Go to Space Pt IVAlexander Declamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00949066823005908635noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6111215700023427447.post-31463946324531821422008-09-04T21:34:00.000-04:002008-09-04T21:34:00.000-04:00Its hardly the ONLY reason. Its but one card in th...Its hardly the ONLY reason. Its but one card in the hand that space advocates are delt.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6111215700023427447.post-12583794732461944302008-09-02T16:46:00.000-04:002008-09-02T16:46:00.000-04:00Before I begin my complaining and moaning, let me ...Before I begin my complaining and moaning, let me start by saying I am a firm supporter of space development and of NASA. NASA does great work towards an important and noble goal on a tiny budget. There are a lot of great reasons to fund NASA, but spinoff technologies is NOT one of them.<BR/><BR/>We've all heard this argument before; that money spent on space exploration is returned in new inventions and technology. The statement is true, but not unique to NASA and space exploration technology. There are plenty of other technology development paths that we as a country can follow, each of which returns different spinoff benefits.<BR/><BR/>- Dr. Ballard found the Titanic using technology developed for military ocean investigation.<BR/>- NIH regularly publishes advances in biological technology.<BR/>- NIST oversees many important technical projects for direct technical benefit.<BR/><BR/>The list goes on and on.<BR/><BR/>There are technologies that can only result from a space program. These can certainly be claimed as space program spinoffs, but many of these technologies could have come from other programs, other initiatives. Any technology development program that stretches our knowledge and engineering skills will have spinoffs. That being the case, if what we value are spinoff technologies, I believe that there are a lot of places to spend our tax dollars.<BR/><BR/><B>When a space program must be justified on the spinoffs, be prepared to lose the funding argument to other agencies that also have a history of developing technologies.</B><BR/><BR/>Let's build support for a space program for the right reasons. Space based research is a right reason for robotic space programs. Human space programs can be amply justified by the need to get off this rock. Spinoffs are only a side benefit, never the reason to spend money.bz922xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02407864766162576014noreply@blogger.com