Comments on: New Column: A Four Way Space Race http://futurismic.com/2005/10/14/new-column-a-four-way-space-race/ Presenting the fact and fiction of tomorrow since 2001 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:03:44 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Volgo Incertius http://futurismic.com/2005/10/14/new-column-a-four-way-space-race/comment-page-1/#comment-12 Volgo Incertius Tue, 08 Aug 2006 01:48:19 +0000 http://futurismic.com/2005/10/14/new-column-a-four-way-space-race/#comment-12 SciFi aside, the lure of space is waning. Spending billions of dollars for a few PhDs to conduct experiments in vacuum doesn't seem like a great payoff - and there's no immediate return on investment for exploring other planets for life or minerals. Space tourism is more brag right than wonderous sight. LM Spacecraft? We don't even fly Concorde when petroleum was cheap. Would I spend my tax money to construct the next Mir? By Jove, I hope not!<br /><br />So what is really left? Satellites. People already knew that satellites are the extent of space explorations we are willing to invest in, since it offers direct payback, both in communication and in potential military applications. Our GPS satellites are stretching their reliable lifespan. India and Israel also have space capabilities. Taiwan recently deployed their weather satellites for hurricanes. Even S. Korea, Pakistan, Iran, and Brazil are trying to sever their reliance on the current oligopoly.<br /><br />There is indeed a space race coming up, but it's driven more by economics and changing global politics. SciFi aside, the lure of space is waning. Spending billions of dollars for a few PhDs to conduct experiments in vacuum doesn’t seem like a great payoff – and there’s no immediate return on investment for exploring other planets for life or minerals. Space tourism is more brag right than wonderous sight. LM Spacecraft? We don’t even fly Concorde when petroleum was cheap. Would I spend my tax money to construct the next Mir? By Jove, I hope not!

So what is really left? Satellites. People already knew that satellites are the extent of space explorations we are willing to invest in, since it offers direct payback, both in communication and in potential military applications. Our GPS satellites are stretching their reliable lifespan. India and Israel also have space capabilities. Taiwan recently deployed their weather satellites for hurricanes. Even S. Korea, Pakistan, Iran, and Brazil are trying to sever their reliance on the current oligopoly.

There is indeed a space race coming up, but it’s driven more by economics and changing global politics.

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