Pigs in Space

It is an open question whether or not the President of the United States is borderline retarded. A case could be made either way. Who among us is in a position to truly judge? Perhaps he is a genuine moron. Perhaps he is actually quite wily in his way, only spoiled and lazy. What can be said for certain is that he is self-consciously ignorant, does not care that he is ignorant, and doesn't attempt to rectify his ignorance. He is President. There are thousands and thousands of highly-qualified people in every conceivable discipline who would be only too happy to offer him explanations, or answer his questions, or what-have-you. He wouldn't even have to do much, just sit and not pick his nose. But he chooses not to ask or listen. The man has consciously decided to avoid knowing things. This is extremely apparent in his statements on his Bold New Space Initiative.

As I've mentioned, I like space. Astronomy is hot and sexy. So are propulsion systems. The ion drive on the Deep Space 1 probe made me all tingly. So I want to like space programmes. I do.

However, it's pretty clear that Bush does not like space. Read his remarks. There's no substance. The plan he puts forth is objectively pro-Saddam. Or at least ethereal. And it's pretty clear that actual scientists and engineers did not have a whole lot of input. We have yet to establish that there is, in fact, any significant amount of water on the Moon; the Lunar Prospector found some indications that there could be, frozen in eternally-shaded craters near the poles; but when the probe was crashed into the surface, Earthbound observers did not find any signs of water kicked up by the impact. And more recently, the Arecibo radio telescope found no evidence of large quantities of ice down to a depth of about 6 metres. This doesn't mean that water isn't there, in some form, and it doesn't mean that it isn't extractable. But it doesn't mean that it is there, either. Until we know more, planning a permanent Lunar outpost is just silly. Without hydrogen (and water) available locally, we'd have to ship water from Earth. Water is heavy. Water is horrifically expensive to lift into orbit. It would be a Very Bad Thing, in short. Yet the President goes on about processing rocket fuel from Lunar soil, and firing off missions to Mars...When these don't make practical sense. Either he didn't ask, or he chose to ignore what he was told.

And this venture would suck money away from real science projects. Putting people on the Moon is flashy, it's glamourous, it's potentially utopian, but it isn't good science, and I'm pretty sure the President didn't bother asking about that either, or, again, decided to ignore it.

So it seems all the time and money spent on the International Space Station is being declared officially a waste...Which it was. But no more so than this project. The cost is excessive, the goals idealistic rather than practical, the science payoff limited, the effort disproportionate.

The Shuttle's hypothetical successor has extremely loosely and poorly thought out specifications; like the Shuttle, it seems destined to try and do too many things, and so do them all disappointingly and expensively. It isn't good engineering to try and use the same vehicle for every mission. Again, it seems like no-one bothered to ask.

Bush doesn't give a shit, it seems, so long as it makes for good sound bytes.

Posted by aloysius at January 15, 2004 06:35 PM | TrackBack |