[FPSPACE] RE: Last Few Hours in History of Unmanned Space?

[Jim Benson]

Another reason NASA and the U.S. government were so adamant about
downing Mir and undermining the Russian space program was to stop the
unprecedented Russian record of 13 years of unbroken human presence in
space in order to restart the clock in the West's favor.

We now have 14 years to wait before we will know if the ploy worked.

Jim Benson
San Diego
California
USA
Earth
Solar System
Milky Way Galaxy
Only Known Universe
October 30, 2000


> -----Original Message-----
> From: JamesOberg@aol.com [mailto:JamesOberg@aol.com]
> Sent: Monday, October 30, 2000 1:12 PM
> To: fpspace@friends-partners.org
> Subject: Last Few Hours in History of Unmanned Space?
> 
> 
> 
> Last Few Hours in History of Unmanned Space?
> 
> If ISS succeeds over the next few years, and other small and 
> large platforms 
> are established in 10-20 years by other entities both 
> governmental and 
> commercial, continuous human presence beyond Earth may become 
> a perpetual 
> state. As I type these words, these may be the last few 
> moments in the 
> history of this planet when all earthborn life was restricted 
> to Earth 
> itself. Building a permanent space station may be THAT 
> significant, and is 
> one more reason to wish the project well. What brought us 
> this far is "runway 
> behind us" and arguments over routes and strategies is a 
> subject for future 
> historians. It's what ahead of us -- if we're clever and bold 
> enough -- that 
> needs concentration on at this hour. 
> 
> Jim Oberg
> www.jamesoberg.com
> Houston, Texas
> October 30, 2000
>