beavith wrote:

On Mon, 18 Oct 2004 15:37:22 +0200, Victor <Victor@com.com> wrote:

Pierre wrote:

Don't forget Bush wants the end of Hubble and want s to deicde what's good in science...

Actually it is NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe who decided that fixing Hubble is not worth an astronaut's life or losing another shuttle.  A board of investigation was set up to determine the risks involved.  I personally think the risk is not that high and that a human service mission should go ahead as planned.

Wrt. the US space program - I prefer Bush's Vision for Space Exploration. 

And just what is Bush's vision?  I believe King Bush the First also promised grandiose projects.  Yet aside from the militarization of space (http://www.ucsusa.org/global_security/missile_defense/index.cfm), is there any evidence to suggest that necessary funding is going to NASA to get humans to Mars any time soon?

Bush has absolutely no vision at all for space exploration, aside from gutting NASA to the danger point (taking Clinton's lead here: faster, better cheaper, more dangerous), and talking grandiose rhetoric.

Watch the old Kennedy pre-moonshot speeches.  The preoccuptation in the early 1960's was how we'd get there, not fighting terrorists, gutting out the environment, turning back the clock on alternative energy, replacing science with ideology (http://www.ucsusa.org/global_environment/rsi/page.cfm?pageID=1320), etc.

I'd have more faith in a butterfly taking us to Mars than either Bush or Kerry.

me too.

From what I have read on Space.com, Kerry is still stuck

in a 'low-Earth orbit' research mentality.  With Kerry as president, space enthusiasts like us can kiss promising missions like the Jupiter Ice Moons and Pluto-Kuiper Express missions good-bye.

oh, i dunno.  JIMO has enough coolness factor that it'd probably go.
however, you can rest assured that Bush's vision would die a fast
death.  the corollary is that NASA would remain rudderless until and
unless Kerry comes up with his own vision.  the impression that i get
is that its not even on Kerry's radar screen.
it'd be another 4 years down the drain.