Shap was just being a tad witty - I enjoyed the "zing". It's Monday, a smile is appreciated.
Re the Mars idea; I'm not too sure about sending actors, but somebody will probably end up there.
I grew up on science fiction and still buy a bunch of it. I thought that Heinlein was right when I was 12, and I still think so. Keeping all your eggs in one basket is not the smartest way of keeping eggs. Making more baskets is a better long-term stragegy. We should have people living in more than one place.
Exploration and pioneering are risky activities, it's true. But we're all the descendents of pioneers and explorers. We try to mitigate the risks, and minimize the casualties, but risk does remain. And the benefits of new discoveries can be enormous.
The last nitwit to complain at me about the cost of research and exploration didn't realize that the whole "space exploration" budget that he was whining about had funded the fundamental discoveries that resulted in the cell phone in his pocket, the pda and portable computer on the "visitor" desk, the microminiturized electronics in his hearing aid, and the batteries in his pacemaker.
Ships sink; do we quit sailing? Cars crash; we still drive. Trains have wrecks. Airplanes? Need I mention airplanes? These are all things that resulted from loonies taking risks and making discoveries, followed by engineers cleaning up and developing the inventors' efforts.
I still sincerely envy Christa McAuliff. We've lost how many shuttles? Out of how many flights? This level of risk is acceptable to me. Where do I sign up? I'd love to ride the shuttle.
Never mind the FRS. Gimme a space helmet!
Selma
