Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!pyrdc!pyrnj!rutgers!att!lzaz!bds From: bds@lzaz.ATT.COM (B.SZABLAK) Newsgroups: comp.ai Subject: Re: Grand Challenges Message-ID: <238@lzaz.ATT.COM> Date: 23 Sep 88 12:27:59 GMT References: <123@feedme.UUCP> Organization: AT&T ISL Lincroft NJ USA Lines: 14 In article <123@feedme.UUCP>, doug@feedme.UUCP (Doug Salot) writes: > If we were to accept the premise that Big Science is a Good Thing, > what should our one big goal? Build a probe to explore the surfaces of Mars et. al. without direct human guidance. To make the project hard [;-)] , it should be able to determine what factors in the enviroment are of intrinsic interest. In a simular vein, I liked the idea presented in New Scientist about a year or so ago: an interstellar probe consisting of a light sail launched by lasers (ala "Mote in Gods Eye"). The probe would weight only a few hundred grams and have the circuits of the computer built into the sail (along with photocells, sensors, and radio). Travel time to the nearest stars would be a few decades.