Do we still need a space program?

[Lief Erikson]

Originally Posted by The Gaffer

Me too, though probably for different reasons. It might spur the US and China into a new arms race, as you've implied. The US is so used to being invulnerable that it might freak them out completely.

You may be right. Though I wouldn't characterize the US as feeling invulnerable. I personally feel very nervous about what the future has in store.

Many of us are pretty hyped up about terrorism and the threats of WMDs, nowadays. Our invasion of Iraq is largely the result of that, as are the current stresses between our country and Iran.

Originally Posted by The Gaffer

Perhaps there's one (deeply ironic) consolation: having a true balance of power in the world might be a restraining influence. This was my beef with SDI/missile shields: nuclear weapons can only be justified because of the principle of "mutually assured destruction". As soon as one side gets a system which prevents them being destroyed by enemy nukes, you have no justification for having them.

I doubt that having a true balance of power would work as a restraining influence. Last time, when the USSR and the USA balanced each other out, incidents such as the Korean War and Vietnam War were the result of their facing off. And the Cuban Missile Crisis nearly ended the world altogether. So that's certainly not a situation I'd wish back again.

Originally Posted by The Gaffer

I would hope that this gets both sides to sit around the table and come up with some sort of treaty. And preferably soon, before Taiwan kicks off...

Depends what sort of treaty. I wouldn't want anything that puts us in a position where we're hands-off on China, and they can feel free to take over nearby countries like the USSR did.

My own hopes for peace lie in economics. The more our country and China become economically fastened to one another, the less likely it is that a war in some future crisis result between our countries. It also would become more likely that we'd be sensitive to one another's political interests, if we're economically profiting from one another.

[The Gaffer]

I agree that closer economic ties are a key element. However, they may not be (soon) enough ...an interesting leader in the Grauniad last Saturday:

For much of the past decade, one of the loudest voices raised against the weaponisation of space had been Chinese. A white paper published nine years ago talked of space belonging to all mankind, to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes. Since then, China and Russia have locked horns with Washington on the need for a binding international legal instrument on the Prevention of An Arms Race in Outer Space (Paros). The issue has deadlocked wider progress in the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, despite attempts by China to relax the link between an ad hoc committee on Paros and an eventual treaty.

China has been alarmed by the deployment of America's National Missile Defence (NMD), which would not only could negate its nuclear deterrent, but could also be extended to Taiwan. ... Hundreds of Chinese missiles point at Taiwan, and if these could be intercepted by US missiles or lasers directed by satellites in space, then the logical step for China would be to prove that it could knock one down.

Then Will Hutton in the Observer:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/stor...995301,00.html

China can make its plea for international treaties knowing that the unilateralist US will refuse. Bush then plays Bismarkian politics in Asia, backing Japan - but with dwindling military power. Talk of building a defence mechanism against a Chinese attack on American satellites is for the birds; the expense, given Iraq, and technological complexity make it impossible.

The pass has been sold. China can do what it wants. If there is unrest within, the [Chinese Communist] party will turn increasingly to nationalism and perhaps even war. It shows that every aspect of globalisation, from space to trade, has to be governed by international treaty and the rule of law. The US reaction to last week should not be a star-wars arms race, but to comprehend the new realities and to respond by multilateral engagement. It won't, so it is no longer scaremongering to warn of the small, but growing risk, of a devastating Asian war.

[Nurvingiel]

We still need a space program so Illinois mothers can be entertained in their childrens' rooms.

[Earniel]

LOL! That baby is so going to be an astronaut later.

[Insidious Rex]

Does that mean somewhere in Houston a bunch of engineers are sitting around a monitor scratching their heads over why they keep getting fuzzy video of a sleeping baby?

[sisterandcousinandaunt]

Tang. Velcro. Freeze-dried strawberries. Space food sticks.

I need the space program.

[Earniel]

Nasa is sending a probe to Vesta and Ceres, the newly upgraded dwarf-planet. Could be interesting, as Ceres is said to have water.

I also think Dawn is a cute name for a space probe.

Nasa readies for asteroid mission

[Jonathan]

I didn't know about the Dawn spacecraft. Thanks for sharing Eärniel!

Probes have studied asteroids before but (as far as I know) never the biggest ones. It's about time Ceres gets visited. And especially if there's a likelihood to find water there!