Aucbvax.5332
fa.space
utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!space
Sun Nov 29 03:47:47 1981
SPACE Digest V2 #44
>From OTA@S1-A Sun Nov 29 03:36:26 1981
SPACE Digest Volume 2 : Issue 44
Today's Topics:
"The Space Shuttle" vs "The Air Shuttle"
Does anyone out there really care?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 28 Nov 1981 1055-PST
Sender: LEAVITT at USC-ISI
Subject: "The Space Shuttle" vs "The Air Shuttle"
From: Mike Leavitt <LEAVITT USC-ISI AT>
To: space at MC
Message-ID: <[USC-ISI]28-NOV-81 10:55:09.LEAVITT>
I suspect some of the people who have denied the
relevance of the parody have missed a part of its point. The
issue is that when you have spent as much time, person-years, and
money as NASA has on our space program, you begin to think that
that is the only way it might have been done. Nobody denies the
complexity of our current space vehicles and launch systems. You
must go beyond asserting that complexity to respond to the
parody. Could it have been done more expeditiously, cheaply, and
simply (and perhaps less safely) if profit and glory was the
objective, rather than national supremacy, military utility, and
the job security of thousands of engineers? I don't know the
asnwer, although I have my suspicions. But one needs to go
beyond the status quo to answer the issues raised in the parody.
Mike <LEAVITT USC-ISI AT>
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Mail-from: ARPANET site MIT-MC rcvd at 28-Nov-81 0513-EST
Date: 28 November 1981 05:12-EST
From: J. Noel Chiappa <JNC MIT-MC AT>
Subject: Does anyone out there really care?
To: space at SU-AI
cc: JNC at MIT-MC
Remailed-date: 28 Nov 1981 1707-EST
Remailed-from: J. Noel Chiappa <JNC MIT-XX AT>
Remailed-to: space at MIT-MC
I saw the following item in an AP digest:
UNDATED - Video games, models of the space shuttle Columbia and
cold-weather wear were among the hot-selling items as the traditional
Yuletide shopping rush began.
and it set me to thinking. My first reactions were "Wow, maybe now
there are more people interested in space, maybe we can get a little
more funding. Even better, the kids are getting into it now, and
that's a good sign for the future." Then I realized something: the US
has had a space program for almost 25 years. The people who were young
enough to be 'space kids' (up to, say, 14 years old when it started)
should be a major part of the population by now, but clearly they
aren't all as into it as we are. My recollections of my childhood
aren't as voluminous as I might wish; I know I was really into space
in 1961, but what about all the other kids from back then? Were then
into it then? Are they into it now? I've seen only the sketchiest figures
on public support for the space program, but I seem to remember about
15% thought we were spending too much, and about the same thought we
ought to spend a lot more. I'd be interested in seeing more detailed
numbers, especially by age, etc.
I could go on for a long time on a related train of things
(which would probably over-flow onto other lists) but I'll stop.
We oughta set up a sub-list for intensive flaming...
Noel
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End of SPACE Digest
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