12/05/07
Reciently I made this below statement to the National Space Society to help raise some awareness of the greater social issues blocking moves like space development or other such large scale ideas.
Blast from the past…
An attached paper written in 1989 which leads toward why our
civilization may need a space based commercialized structure for our
ultimate survival.
Hi all,
Recently I have harkening back to what I consider the hay day period
with the Central New York Chapter of the NSS now deceased and what
if any view points are still contiguous from that time until now and
somehow an old paper I wrote while attending Broome Community
College at Binghamton New York for Professor Hogan's history class
comes to mind. Here in the mists of what I call the hay day period
of the Central New York Chapter which ran from 1987 to 1994 where it
then trailed off to its demise several years later for reasons
explained else where on this Florida NSS yahoo group site I wrote a
paper Titled "Alternatives and Substitutes a Failure of Industrial
Policy with Demographic Consequences Toward Proper Industrial
Alignment and Population". Here I laid out a general thought line as
to why we as a world may need to have a unifying space based
commercialized structure as I called it at the end of the paper.
I have scanned this paper and have attached it as a power point in
the file section of this group site. This is the original paper so
you will see Professor Hogan's corrections and comments throughout
its text and no I am not here just touting an A+ but that was nice
of Hogan to do that given some of the clerical mistakes though out
the paper (oh, by the way, I still make some of the same clerical
mistakes well at least I know some things never change). But if you
pay attention to the content and are aware as well of the time
period it was written in and then reflect on the issue as to whether
anything has really changed over the years one might ask what is the
real hold up with our species expansion into the frontier of space I
mean the whole sale expansion in the millions this is the scale I am
talking about the same vision espoused and fomented at the founding
of the NSS. One has to ask is it a vision problem where by the whole
of society for some reason just can't envision itself capable of
collective actions on such a scale or is the answer still lurking
about somewhere in the mist of that paper, who knows.
The one thing I do know is that we cannot run around touting our
great prowess in space while at the same time officials are looking
to lay off 5000 Kennedy Space Center Employees, with our Shuttle
Program on the wane and no replacement at this time rolling out on
the tarmac, with areas within the astronomical community questioning
the future capabilities of our US Space System to support future
long term research projects and much more one has to ask what is
going on with our collective vision? Or is there a kind of societal
malaise that has developed as a result or failure of following
through with our dreams or visions of a real and thus codified
future. Is our society empowered or are we not? You see my fellow
NSS'ers if we as a Nation were indeed serious about an effort to
colonize or industrialize the moon than doesn't it stand to order
that instead of laying off 5000 workers at the KSC we would in turn
be adding on 50,000 more workers at the KSC readying our
capabilities to advance ourselves out into that new frontier with a
budget that truly reflects a National commitment such as 80 or maybe
120 billion dollars per year over the next twenty years at least for
just the initial set up on the Lunar surface.
If we the United States are serious about joining China, Japan and
Germany on the Lunar surface this is what we as a Nation need to do
to achieve that goal and there is no short cut in the process people
that's just how it is. And if you think I am in error here you just
go back and look at what it took to complete and run the Apollo
Projects. There from President Kennedy's speech forward it took some
500,000 people overall working almost ten years to achieve the
Apollo landings then with the cost of living much cheaper than it is
now with each Saturn Five fully loaded and launch ready at two
billion dollars a copy with all of its ancillary support and
development expenses would now equal today's cost of living in the
range plus or minus of 100 billion dollars a year and likely a whole
lot more in total real cost for setting up a Lunar Station in some
twenty years or so. It will take a lot of work and financial backing
to get it done that's all, a real national commitment.
So enjoy the blast from the past paper of mine and at the end in the
Work Sited Section you will see a few familiar names Al Halstead my
co-partner with the Central New York Chapter and of course the late
Isaac Asimov who at that time ran a visionary video and spoke on
behalf of the NSS in a public relations capacity. You may not agree
with the paper but it does make some real points and adds to a
background of thought as to why we may not be at this time living
and working on our very own Moon and elsewhere in space.
With respect,
Randy
