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Originally Posted by Disinfo Agent
I don't think it was the Outer Space Treaty alone that ended the space race. I still remember how the space race reignited in the early 80s, before Gorbachev started reforming the Soviet Union.
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I think you're referring here to Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative. And that only further supports my view that US politicians and bureaucrats are more interested maintaining an upper hand internationally than they are in planetary science. Notice that NASA did not get serious about returning to the Moon until China suggested that it might be interested in going there themselves.
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Originally Posted by Disinfo Agent
To the contrary: it was the tremendous developments in space technology by the U.S. in the 60s, culminating in the Moon landings, which cooled down the space race.
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Now that's a strangely counterintuitive thing to say. Not saying you're wrong--just curious how you arrived at that conclusion.
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Originally Posted by Disinfo Agent
I have a couple of questions for you:
1) Do you think that only a space race can motivate people to go to space?
2) If the choice were between another space race, and a stagnated space program, which one would we be wisest to choose?
3) Do you think that any one nation can set up a space program to go to Mars, or to colonise the Moon, all by itself?
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- Obviously, there is not much of a space race going right now, yet people are still in space; my point is that a space race can provide an overriding justification for funding levels that are an order of magnitude greater than current levels.
- That's a good question; I'd like to see NASA's budget increased to $100 billion per year; total federal outlays these days are basically $3 trillion; so $100 billion would be about 3.33% of the federal budget--and that's actually slightly less than the 4% of the total budget that NASA took out in the mid-1960's; I don't think that would break the bank.
- I believe that at $100 billion per year, it would be a piece of cake for the US to colonize the Moon by themselves.