tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11996122.post112113772130935072..comments2024-03-24T02:17:44.264-05:00Comments on Online Space News: The Self-Esteem of ScientistDan Schrimpsherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12226382166616841383noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11996122.post-1124296662212607172005-08-17T11:37:00.000-05:002005-08-17T11:37:00.000-05:00Hmm, Well you may be right about NASA, but now ab...Hmm, Well you may be right about NASA, but now about what the President is proposing. (Permanent human presence)<BR/><BR/>Tourism- The practice of traveling for pleasure.<BR/><BR/>Settle - To establish residence in; colonize: Pioneers settled the West.<BR/><BR/>So perhaps the act of going to the Moon is tourism, (although I would doubt the settlers of the west would agree that the journey was for pleasure) but once you are there permanently (or at least quasi-permanently) it is a settlement or colony.Dan Schrimpsherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12226382166616841383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11996122.post-1121277939986132432005-07-13T13:05:00.000-05:002005-07-13T13:05:00.000-05:00I agree that in the context of exploring the Earth...I agree that in the context of exploring the Earth itself, the aphorism from the AAS is overstated. Besides scientific exploration and tourism, there is also geographical exploration and commercial exploration. However, scientific exploration and tourism are the only kinds of exploration that NASA has ever done, or is planning now. So the AAS statement was correct as a description of NASA.<BR/><BR/>Columbus, Magellan, de Gama, Polo, and Lewis and Clark were geographical explorers. (You could even call it imperial exploration.) Shackleton and Armstrong, heroes though they were, were little more than tourists. Shackleton did a little geography and Armstrong did a little science.<BR/><BR/>No scientist I know is seriously "worried" about any aspect of space settlement, because they don't expect it to happen at all. Many scientists are disgusted (not really "worried") that NASA is still committed to tourism in the name of science.<BR/><BR/>The concept of imperial exploration -- your list points to the Spanish empire -- raises another interesting point. Yes, the US has its share of explorers and pioneers, but in that game it doesn't hold a candle to Russia, Spain, or the Vikings. These examples should show you that exploration doesn't always make you stronger. Sometimes, instead, you overextend and weaken.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com