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<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 2460740" data-attributes="member: 177">Yes, but his mission to the Moon and Mars initiative looks to be poorly considered, funded and executed.&nbsp; That may (will likely, imho) overwhelm what good he has done.Perhaps, but looking at it that way would be couting chickens before they've hatched.&nbsp; We may also be in for an ecological disaster that will wash Mr. Bova's projections into the ever-deepening ocean.&nbsp; Or not.&nbsp; Or lightning may strike a young man in South Dakota, revealing him to be the space-faring son of interstellar pirates.&nbsp; Lots of things might happen.&nbsp; Hardly.&nbsp; While NASA and the ESA and the Japanese have now worked with low-earth orbit stuff enough to shift that off to the private sector, anything beyond that is still too expensive and risky for any currently existing private enterprise to tackle.&nbsp; Private enterprise exists to make money for people now.&nbsp; They are (and should be) more focused on the profits of their current investors, and that precludes tossing out money that may not see a return for a century or more.&nbsp; Simply put, nothing short of a first-world nation has the excess wealth to invest in so high-risk and long-term investments as the cutting edge of space flight.&nbsp; Putting stellites in orbit is no longer cutting edge, so others can manage that.&nbsp; But going even deeper will still require massive federal funding.For some, that may be enough.&nbsp; But in every age, only a small number of people were really into exploration.&nbsp; Most people are &quot;stay-at-homes&quot;, and it being there often does not seem to them to be sufficient cause for spendign tax dollars.&nbsp; Advancement (scientific or otherwise) that benefits future generations of their families, however, most folks can understand.No, we don't need competing platforms.&nbsp; We need complimentary platforms.&nbsp; Sedans and SUVs are not really in competition - they serve different needs, and fill separate niches.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 2460740, member: 177"] Yes, but his mission to the Moon and Mars initiative looks to be poorly considered, funded and executed. That may (will likely, imho) overwhelm what good he has done. Perhaps, but looking at it that way would be couting chickens before they've hatched. We may also be in for an ecological disaster that will wash Mr. Bova's projections into the ever-deepening ocean. Or not. Or lightning may strike a young man in South Dakota, revealing him to be the space-faring son of interstellar pirates. Lots of things [i]might[/i] happen. Hardly. While NASA and the ESA and the Japanese have now worked with low-earth orbit stuff enough to shift that off to the private sector, anything beyond that is still too expensive and risky for any currently existing private enterprise to tackle. Private enterprise exists to make money for people [i]now[/i]. They are (and should be) more focused on the profits of their current investors, and that precludes tossing out money that may not see a return for a century or more. Simply put, nothing short of a first-world nation has the excess wealth to invest in so high-risk and long-term investments as the cutting edge of space flight. Putting stellites in orbit is no longer cutting edge, so others can manage that. But going even deeper will still require massive federal funding. For some, that may be enough. But in every age, only a small number of people were really into exploration. Most people are "stay-at-homes", and it being there often does not seem to them to be sufficient cause for spendign tax dollars. Advancement (scientific or otherwise) that benefits future generations of their families, however, most folks can understand. No, we don't need competing platforms. We need [i]complimentary[/i] platforms. Sedans and SUVs are not really in competition - they serve different needs, and fill separate niches. [/QUOTE]

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