[extropy-chat] Re: Are dwarfs better for long duration spaceflight?

[David Lubkin]

I wrote:

>  He proclaimed that spacecraft *must* be custom-built, and that 
> it  would *never* be possible to mass-produce them. And yes, 
> friends, he really did mean *never*.

Eugen replied:

>He was most likely already wrong at the time he spoke:
>
>http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/20010601eo1.html
>http://www.afrlhorizons.com/Briefs/0009/VS0014.html
>http://www.wtec.org/loyola/ar93_94/scst.htm

I most often encounter this in public or broadcast discussions of 
science, medicine, and technology. Someone will declare that X will 
not achieved for decades or centuries, or perhaps ever, when  I know 
that it in fact was already done years ago. The remark usually stands 
unchallenged.


-- David.