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Lost in Space:
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Lost in Space:
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Patricia Smith dug a twenty out of her pocket to pay the cab driver and then hurried inside the restaurant. She was already late meeting a few friends for dinner. When she got inside Chez Bistro, she saw that only Kaleen was there. Everyone else was late. "I thought I was late!" said Patricia to Kaleen. "You are, but everyone else is later," Kaleen responded with a smile. Patricia and Kaleen had been friends since Patricia had moved to Washington DC, although their backgrounds could not have been more different. Patricia was a high-level official at NASA, while Kaleen was a well-known sculptor. Patricia ordered a drink as they waited for the rest of the gang to show up. The conversation turned, as do all discussions in DC, to politics. "Any more failures at NASA?" asked Kaleen, referring to the recent Mars mission failures. "Any more opportunities for sending a few hundred million dollars crashing onto some worthless planet?" Patricia did not flinch: "Aren't you curious to know if there is life out there? The prevalence of life in the universe is one of the most profound, and as yet, unanswered philosophical questions." "I may be interested in knowing that, but I'd rather solve some problems here on Earth first. Let's get rid of homelessness, AIDS, cancer, poverty, famine first. Then let's look for little green men," Kaleen responded. "I don't dispute that those problems are important," retorted Patricia, "but exploring space could bring new technology and new solutions to bear on the problems we have on Earth. The knowledge we gain could solve countless problems. And if we are able to find suitable locations for life in the universe, we could colonize these planets or use them to bring needed resources back to Earth as our own resources disappear." Kaleen shook her head. "That sounds very iffy to me. Spending a lot of money on the long shot that there would be some return that is beneficial to humans, especially since the returns may not come for many, many years." "But don't you have a sense of adventure? For centuries human beings have risked their lives and dedicated resources to venture into the unknown and explore the environment around them. Their motivation has been driven by a variety of economic, political and other reasons," Patricia responded. "Space is the 'final frontier'." "Exploration is just a way of running away from our problems. We can't even justify it as a national defense issue since the cold war is over. It seems clear to me that imperatives other than profit, military exploitation, or nationalism will have to compel human beings to explore the extraterrestrial environment." Just then Pete and Bill finally showed up, abruptly ending the unfinished debate. Part I Questions:
Go to Part II: Why Go to Mars?Date Posted: mb 02/01 |
