[FPSPACE] NEO Defense

[LARRY KLAES]

Sending humans to Mars is sexy, something like CAPS is not.

Doesn't matter how right you may be about Mars versus an incoming
space rock, defending against NEOs won't grab the public quite the
same way as rallying around a manned Mars mission will.

In fact I would go so far as to say that you will need to send humans
to explore and colonize the Moon and Mars before you will see real
support for NEO defense and certainly such things as a monitoring
base on the lunar farside.

You need to convince and educate the public, they are the ones
footing the bill for space.  CAPS and NEOs don't mean much to
them.  Mars at least is a place, and they can grasp that.

Larry


>From: "E.P. Grondine" <epgrondine at hotmail.com>
>To: "FPSPACE at friends-partners.org" <fpspace at friends-partners.org>
>Subject: [FPSPACE] NEO Defense
>Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2008 14:29:19 -0500
>
>
>Hi Larry -
>
>Extinction Level Events are rare. The one's that kill 10,000,000- 
>60,000,000 people or so, or say several 5,500,000,000, are of more 
>immediate concern.
>
>Now repeat after me:
>
>MARS IS NOT EARTHLIKE.
>ITS A LONG WAY OFF AND EXPENSIVE TO GET TO.
>MARS IS NOT EARTHLIKE.
>ITS A LONG WAY OFF AND EXPENSIVE TO GET TO.
>MARS IS NOT EARTHLIKE.
>ITS A LONG WAY OFF AND EXPENSIVE TO GET TO.
>
>Since that is so, the problem is protecting the Earth, not sending a few 
>people to Mars.
>
>Provide that protection, then we're out of the cradle, as the best place to 
>do it from is the Moon.
>
>It's called CAPS.
>
>E.P. Grondine
>Man and Impact in the Americas
>
>
>
>
>
>
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