[FPSPACE] Launching anything is good: How Governments Could Promote Development of Outer Space

[John]

David, all good points.

Re: the sea-faring model of space exploration, I was reminded of a  
quote from Joe Haldeman in The Forever War (iirc), to the effect that,  
"the problem with joining battle in space is that battle is almost  
impossible to join" due to the velocities invloved, etc.

JBC
(some typos due to iPhone touchpad)

On Nov 2, 2009, at 7:15, David Portree <dsfportree at hotmail.com> wrote:

> The assumption that the market will *ever* be very big is naive.  
> Could it be that government hasn't developed economies of scale  
> because the scale is small? It's a question many seem determined to  
> sidestep.
>
> This could be a place where science fiction has not served us well.  
> The science fiction tradition has been to impose a 19th-century  
> seafaring trade model on the universe. It's fundamentally lazy and  
> unimaginative, but it might be the only way to go about setting  
> stories in space; a realistic depiction would likely not hold much  
> appeal.
>
> Space is not a friendly environment, and there isn't much there for  
> us. It's a place to explore, to learn about, and that's just about  
> it (at least for the foreseeable future).
>
> Myself, I have a major problem with taxpayer's dollars being spent  
> to provide a "guaranteed market." That's not how our system works,  
> or so we are told again and again. I can think of a few dozen  
> industries I'd rather see government control - health care would be  
> one.
>
> David S. F. Portree
>
> dsfportree at hotmail.com
> dportree at usgs.gov
>
> http://beyondapollo.blogspot.com/
>
> http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/About/People/DavidPortree/
>
>
>
>
>
> From: ljk4 at msn.com
> To: fpspace at friends-partners.org
> Date: Mon, 2 Nov 2009 00:59:16 -0500
> Subject: [FPSPACE] Launching anything is good: How Governments Could  
> Promote Development of Outer Space
>
> Launching anything is good: How Governments Could Promote  
> Development of Outer Space
>
> Sun, 11/01/2009 - 17:38 - Paul Almond
>
> Government organizations have failed to develop space technology to  
> the point where economies of scale apply and space activity becomes  
> self-supporting. Private businesses may have the problem that in the  
> early stages, before space is economically developed, there will be  
> a limited market for space travel.
>
> When space is developed there could be significant economic returns,  
> but development of the technology to achieve that could be hindered  
> by the limited market in the early stages.
>
> This article suggests that a government can help with this by  
> providing a guaranteed market for space travel and development.
>
> By Paul Almond
>
> Full article here:
>
> http://machineslikeus.com/news/launching-anything-good-how-governments-could-promote-development-outer-space
>
>
>
>
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