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.