Re: The Phoenix has landed!

On May 26, 6:26 pm, "Robert J. Kolker" <bobkol...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Mark Isaak wrote:

x>

Good grief! Learn some economics, especially the bits about "public
goods." Exploring Mars is a public good. If you don't agree with that,
tough. You're still part of the public which *does* agree with it. If
you want to stop paying taxes for such public goods, go join a different
public.

A public good with much less value than is spent by NASA. If you want to
talk about government funded lighthouses, maybe you can make a case for
that. Or even government funded airports and air control systems of
which we all derive some benefit. But rocketships to Mars? Be reasonable!

Bob Kolker



You said, "But rocketships to Mars? Be reasonable!" Well, replace
that with "But macroevolution? Be reasonable!" and you get a sense of
what you sound like to me. A false fact backed up by an emotional
appeal is the same sort of sham argument commonly used by creationists
and it sickens me to hear it from someone who is otherwise quite
reasonable.

Of course you know it's more than just a "rocketship". And of course
you know the reasons we go to Mars and the other planets. However,
what you know in this case isn’t nearly as important as what you
imply. What you imply is that that these immensely expensive
undertakings are a waste of money. But we don't do these things on a
whim, Bob. This is exploration at the edge of our territory. And
there is no doubt that this exploration will pay dividends in the
future just as the exploration of the continents and oceans did in the
past.

NASA receives a lot of funding because its missions are high profile
and very expensive but these missions undergo extensive evaluation
weighted by how much money they cost, how much risk they take, and
what knowledge they aim to retrieve. So again, it's not done on a
whim. These missions are vital to a long fruitful future for
mankind. We cannot limit ourselves to short term goals based on short
sighted nationalistic views and shortly lived economic systems and
expect to continue to do as well as we have. We must use the
resources at our disposal as we have always done.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: The Phoenix has landed!
    ... Exploring Mars is a public good. ... you want to stop paying taxes for such public goods, ... you know the reasons we go to Mars and the other planets. ... And there is no doubt that this exploration will pay ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: The Phoenix has landed!
    ... Exploring Mars is a public good. ... you want to stop paying taxes for such public goods, ... you know the reasons we go to Mars and the other planets. ... And there is no doubt that this exploration will pay ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: Space exploration for the rest of us
    ... jacob navia wrote: ... So is Mars. ... Depends on just what humans you ask, and just what hardware they're flying. ... Human space exploration is more profitable for big hardware ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • Re: Smart-1 Images of the Moon
    ... is why we have focused on Mars instead. ... The biggest challenge in space exploration is escaping the Earth's ... Moon as it does to get from Earth to Mars. ... require a sat that does not yet exist, adding to the costs. ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)
  • Re: Laying the Groundwork for Mars
    ... >leading, all along, to a manned mission to Mars. ... >such exploration, as existed in the case of the Moon after Sputnik. ...
    (sci.space.policy)