Aaaand.
Originally shared by David Brin
Aaaand... Putin wins again! With this decision to squander NASA resources on the same dumb goal as China, Russia, Europeans, Indians and various billionaires, DT sabotages our chance to do what none of those others - only we - can do...go where the real riches are. Asteroids & Phobos. Sure, a lunar orbital station is valuable for many reasons. (For one thing: we could sell services to all those wannabe groups desperate to plant dusty footprints on the (for now) useless moon.)
But repeating Apollo? Go ahead. Name any benefits for the US joining the symbolism craze - going back down that dusty gravity well! All you Republicans - (and return-to-the-moon' is a GOP catechism) - can offer is vague arm-waved justifications, zero facts. All this does is make us PART OF THE PACK! While we, alone could access the vast wealth in asteroids! Which is why Putin and the Kochs want to divert us.
Oh, and of course this associates NASA with both money-wasting and Trumpism, now. Undermining overall support among the US citizenry. Spaceba!
Dig what will happen. As costs mount, Trump will declare a diplomatic breakthrough! Turning the US moon landing effort into a wonderful "international cooperation" like the ISS! A new detente! And suckers will fall for it, kvelling as we subsidize Russian and Chinese footprints and technology sharing.
There are zero aspects to this announcement that serve long term US interests. Indeed, every outcome will favor the Kremlin... and mining interests down here who want us never to access the real riches in space.
Yes, doggie. Gooood doggie.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/12/11/569936446/president-trump-is-sending-nasa-back-to-the-moon
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/12/11/569936446/president-trump-is-sending-nasa-back-to-the-moon
Aaaand... Putin wins again! With this decision to squander NASA resources on the same dumb goal as China, Russia, Europeans, Indians and various billionaires, DT sabotages our chance to do what none of those others - only we - can do...go where the real riches are. Asteroids & Phobos. Sure, a lunar orbital station is valuable for many reasons. (For one thing: we could sell services to all those wannabe groups desperate to plant dusty footprints on the (for now) useless moon.)
But repeating Apollo? Go ahead. Name any benefits for the US joining the symbolism craze - going back down that dusty gravity well! All you Republicans - (and return-to-the-moon' is a GOP catechism) - can offer is vague arm-waved justifications, zero facts. All this does is make us PART OF THE PACK! While we, alone could access the vast wealth in asteroids! Which is why Putin and the Kochs want to divert us.
Oh, and of course this associates NASA with both money-wasting and Trumpism, now. Undermining overall support among the US citizenry. Spaceba!
Dig what will happen. As costs mount, Trump will declare a diplomatic breakthrough! Turning the US moon landing effort into a wonderful "international cooperation" like the ISS! A new detente! And suckers will fall for it, kvelling as we subsidize Russian and Chinese footprints and technology sharing.
There are zero aspects to this announcement that serve long term US interests. Indeed, every outcome will favor the Kremlin... and mining interests down here who want us never to access the real riches in space.
Yes, doggie. Gooood doggie.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/12/11/569936446/president-trump-is-sending-nasa-back-to-the-moon
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/12/11/569936446/president-trump-is-sending-nasa-back-to-the-moon
Trump wants to spend giant bundles of tax dollars on grand projects fully of empty symbolism????
ReplyDeleteIt’s almost like, like, ... I don’t know, as if he’s trying to distract everyone from something ...
:O/
Anyway, let’s hope there aren’t any aliens up there - walling off the Moon will take some doing!