Separation of Church and State

[Goonerman]

The answers lie with the Chinese people themselves. That was my point, Obbs. I don't have the answers, but the Chinese peoples as a whole do and will. Yes, the Chinese Government are Capitalists, but still hold on to the old Stalinist/Maoist totalitarianism. But then real Communism is rather too idealistic to execute.

 

Ah, Pete, they have found oil on Titan, and the only way to start being able to get to Saturn to get the oil on Titan is to return to the Moon to develop techniques to get to Mars, then from Mars to learn how to get to Saturn, you know, procedures, hardware, software, piloting, etc. It's no coincidence that after Huygens/Cassini showed how oil-rich Titan is that suddenly the US Government and Congress got all interested in the Moon again. That said, it is more than likely an international treaty will make Titan and Saturn, just like the Moon, the property of all nations equally, a la Antarctica. (The deal to internationalise the Moon took place in the White House the same day as the Apollo 1 tragedy.)

 

If only they could think like Dave Scott, who upon stepping on the Moon in 1971 summed up the proper motive for space, "Okay, Houston. As I stand out here in the wonders of the unknown at Hadley, I sort of realize there's a fundamental truth to our nature. Man must explore. (And this is exploration at its greatest."

 

The only thing is, once Titan falls into human hands, OPEC will put the price up! And our Government will put on a 70% increase!

 

I think we'll all be pushing daisies by then.

[Jerry]

I'm a slow, slow thinker. Until reading this thread I never considered exploration to be a search for exploitable resources. When the first moon rocks and dust were brought back to earth I thought they were souvenirs and clues for scientists who study astro physics (if that is the correct term). (sigh)