[ExI] Fwd: [luf-team] The International Open Space Initiative

[spike]

> ...On Behalf Of Bryan Bishop
> Sent: Tuesday, July 07, 2009 12:31 PM
> ...
> 
> ...I've come 
> to realize there is great and overlooked potential in the 
> concept of telerobotic pre-settlement as a means to...Eric Hunting


Interesting post Bryan.  I have done the weight calculations a hundred times
and concluded that robotic pre-settlement is the only way a Mars colony is
ever going to happen.  

I disagree with Eric Hunting's notion of celebrities and zillionaires
stealing the spotlight, astronauth oligarchies and so forth.  Space
enthusiasts must recognize that rich people are our friends.  They are the
ones with the money to make things happen.  Consider what Amelia Earhart and
Howard Hughes did for aviation, for instance.  

Had Michael Jackson been a hard core space enthusiast, dumping millions into
civilian space tech instead of fantasy lands to lure children for dubious
purposes, imagine what might have been accomplished.  Rich people are an
opportunity, a fertile field waiting to be voluntarily exploited.  May they
prosper, and wish to develop technology.

spike