Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site ames-lm.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!floyd!harpo!seismo!hao!ames-lm!al From: al@ames-lm.UUCP (Al Globus) Newsgroups: net.space Subject: space station Message-ID: <174@ames-lm.UUCP> Date: Tue, 13-Mar-84 16:10:48 EST Article-I.D.: ames-lm.174 Posted: Tue Mar 13 16:10:48 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 14-Mar-84 20:26:56 EST Organization: NASA-Ames Research Center, Mtn. View, CA Lines: 67 Falacy 1. We've done just fine exploring space without a space station. In fact, we've done fine without man at all. Much of what we know about the Sun is derived from data collected by the Skylab solar telescope. Most of what we know about Lunar soil is from samples returned by astronauts. We've learned a great deal about the Moon from experiments carried out in situ and instruments left on the Moon. Space station is essential to answer many questions life scientists have about the role gravity plays in living organisms. There are plans for several large telescopes that cannot be built without space station or something like it. Space telescope will depend on shuttle astronauts for refurbishment, repair, and instrument changeout. If all goes well on the next mission, Solar Max will become useful because of man in space. Falacy 2. Building a space station would SLOW DOWN the advance of space science. Every penny spent on a station, is a penny NOT spent on exploration, and they're not talking about pennies, but billions of dollars. Ask an astronomer, planetologist, climatologist. Space science funding has been a more or less constant percentage of the total NASA budget. In the late seventies and early eighties when NASA's budget declined so did that of space science. It was blamed on the shuttle, but the facts are that space scientists were not making their case before Congess. Fortunately, this situation has changed. If you ask a life scientist or materials scientist about the space station you might get a very different answer than from the disciplines you mentioned. If you really want to take money from one department and give to space science, why don't you pick on DOD? If we all pull together we can do great things. If the space science folks insist on back biting space station it will weaken the entire space effort. Falacy 3. Considering that the Reagan administration is working hard to push high school biology texts back into the 19th century, their commitment to a space station in the name of "science" is hard to swallow. Face it, they want a military base in space before the Russkies get one. DOD opposed space station when the chips were down. They were never that enthusiastic and eventually gave a presentation against the station to the White House. Proof of the pudding is the heavy emphasis Reagan put on international participation. DOD doesn't want international participation for security reasons. Incidentally, DOD is shying away from shuttle because of the publicity on the flights. I suspect Reagan wants space station primarily for prestige and commercial activities. A bit of trivia, the final White House vote on space station had only one aye vote, the President's. Turned out it was the only vote that counted. Falacy 4. If the commercial potential of space is so great, let the companies that will benefit from a station fund it. We didn't pay for all the communication satellites that are up there making money. NASA did lead the way in communication satellites and continues to do research in support of advanced communication technologies. Building basic infrastructure, such as space station, and doing long lead time research and development is a function that government performs well. The tax return on the increased economic activity usually, and in the case of the space program has, been in excess of the original government investment. The auto industry is a classic case. The auto industry would have gotten no where if the government hadn't built the roads. In turn, the government taxes gas and recoups a sizable portion of it's investment.