EDIT oops wrong topic
This is all very interesting but nowhere in this interview or any other article I have ever read is there justification for sending humans into space. With the sole exception of the repairs to the Hubble Space Telescope, I dont believe there is a single example of manned space exploration that could not have been done just as well and a lot cheaper by using robotic probes. The ISS is by far the worst space / science boondoggle of all time - a complete waste of resources with vanishingly small returns. Humans can not exist in space for more than a tiny fraction of the time it would take to travel to our very nearest neighbors. There is simply no point in continuing the charade that manned exploration of the planets will ever occur. The history of manned space exploration is one long story of incredible waste and almost no real benefit. Contrasted with our wildly successful robotic probe programs, which are clearly the way to go forward into the future.
My favorite part was the disclosure at the end.
Only they didn’t have suitable robots in the early 1960ies yet.
And you can’t do jobs like in orbit repairs on machines like the HST without a lot of know how on EVAs.
Well, when the first railways were constructed many leading experts of their time were certain that humans couldn’t survive speeds faster than 30 km/h.
Others thought the whole thing was completely uncalled for as a horse and a cart would get you anywhere anyway.
I don’t know. It seems like they’ve got quite a bit going on at the ISS these days: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/experiments_by_name.html
Your premise that there is no value in having a manned laboratory in orbit because deep space exploration can be done more cheaply by robots seems flawed to me.
Why would I go on holiday if I could watch it on TV?
Until I read your comment my standard response would have been to list any of the ludicrously complicated tasks that are required for any significant project in space.
But now I see a different, more pressing reason.
We need some more imagination down here.
Better graphics, no lag.
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