[FPSPACE] Caves on Mars

[DSFPortree at aol.com]

Jens:

> There is no balance to be struck when considering costs and
> benefits of NEO defence. At least not this side of 0.1% of
> a national budget such as that of the US.

Yes, I suppose that it does seem silly to nickle and dime space, but you must 
always remember that space simply doesn't matter to most people. Even if we 
weren't well on our way to blowing our first trillion in Iraq, I doubt that 
most people would place asteroid detection/deflection very high on their list of 
priorities. Schools and health care and countless other things would rank 
higher. 

I agree that a Tunguska explosion over a major urban area would be a dreadful 
thing, potentially killing millions. The probability of that actually 
happening is, however, very small. It doesn't justify spending tens of billions to 
set up asteroid deflection systems on the moon - particularly since we can 
experiment with cheaper deflection methods first.

David

David S. F. Portree
author & educator
dsfportree at aol.com
(928) 226-1427
Flagstaff Arizona USA

DSFP homepage
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"It's like when you're a kid, the first time they tell you that the world's 
turning and you just can't quite believe it because everything looks like it's 
standing still. I can feel it - the turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our 
feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour, the entire planet is hurtling 
around the Sun at sixty-seven thousand miles an hour, and I can feel it. We're 
falling through space, you and me. Clinging to the skin of this tiny little 
world, and if we let go..." - The Ninth Doctor








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