[admin]

No dictator, no invader, can hold an imprisoned population by force of arms forever. There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom. Against that power, governments and tyrants and armies cannot stand. The Centauri learned this lesson once. We will teach it to them again. Though it take a thousand years, we will be free.-- J. Michael Straczynski

February 06, 2003

On Columbia

It seems like every single blog on the internet has an ode of some sort to the downed space shuttle. Not all are positive — Laurel things that it’s time to privatize (i.e. close) NASA because it’s a waste of taxpayer’s money. I think it’s important not to confuse the spirit of discovery that allowed man to go to space, and the particular method by which that is being done today.
The International Space Station, (whose massive cost overruns may well have caused maintenance failures that caused Columbia to blow up) is a perfect example of the wrong approach to take to space exploration. The ISS is a typical result of multinational bureaucracies trying to make a political statement (under a scientific cover) and I could have told you with near certainty when this plan was just an idea that the true cost of the ISS was wildly underestimated. In an age when space tourism has become practical (as the Russians have shown) and commercial satellites are launched on a regular basis, a government-run space agency should stick to military applications, and leave the space exploration to businessmen. Skeptics will complain that there is not enough research money for a private version of the ISS, but I bet if the government allowed private enterprise to decide which areas research should go to I am sure that the results would be much better, even if a private ISS takes longer to build.

Posted by David at February 6, 2003 12:08 AM | TrackBack
Comments
Post a comment









Remember personal info?






Interact:

My Forum
My Chat Room
My Listserv
Contact Me

Top Shelf:

Friends:
The Economistress
The Rational Egoist
Absolute Reason

Bloggin' Intellectuals:
The Agitator
VodkaPundit
The Patriette
Commiewatch
Free North Korea!
Eye On The Left
Future of Russia
Free Will
Tim Blair
::Freespace::
InstaPundit

Objectivist Bloggers:

Little Green Footballs
NoumenalSelf
EGO
About the War
Fredrik Norman
Venting Steam
wickens.ca
Hootinan

Organizations:

The Rule of Reason
ObjectivismOnline.net
Aggie Objectivism Club
GMU Objectivist Club Blog
Utah Objectivist Club Blog
Illinois Objectivist Club Blog
Geeks With Guns
Free Republic


E-Zines:

Capitalism Magazine
Cox and Forkum
RightWingNews
The Intellectual Activist
The American Individualist
Drudge Report

Techies:

TechCentralStation
.Net Weblogs
dive into mark
kottke.org
Scriptygoddess
Scripting News
C:/Pirillo
GeekPress
The War on SPAM
Textism

Humor:

Fillibuster Cartoons
John Cox & Allen Forkum
DaveBarry
Dave's Columns
ScrapleFace
Allah is in Da House
Penny Arcade

Miscellaneous:
Collectrix Blog Hosting
My Favorite Art
Everything in Moderation
The Bikini Diaries

BlogShares Info:
Price:
P/E Ratio:
Link Value:
Share:
B$:: $

« LibertyLoggers »
Blogroll Me!

Calendar:
December 2003
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
  1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 31      
Archives:
Search


Recent Entries:

Categories:
Recent Referers:

s: 192 Fatboy Slim Right ...
s: wholesale cdr%5C's uk
shatteredreality.net
bloogz.com/rank/
bloogz.com/
bloogz.com/
search.yahoo.com/search?p...
s: %2B"green velvet" dave...
search4hardcore.com
s: islam terrorism
technorati.com/
bloogz.com/
bloogz.com/
bloogz.com/
submitcorner.com/cgi-bin/...
s: quotes corrupt monopol...
search.yahoo.com/search?p...
s: quotes corrupt monopol...
s: quotes corrupt monopol...
s: colorblind.mp3 countin...

Self-Defense: A Human Right
The Truth About Israel

Subscribe to my blog!


Random Blog:

| About | Blog | Essays | Photo Album | Resume | Webcam | Favorites | Projects | Contact|