[ExI] Manned Spaceflight (Was: future fizzle)

[Stefano Vaj]

On Mon, Jun 1, 2009 at 1:24 PM, Tom Nowell <nebathenemi at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> In addition to the list of reasons given previously for sending people to
other planets, there's one reason you haven't brought up: setting up
colonies away from Earth, so just in case the big existential risk we
disregarded comes and wipes out Earth-based humans.

Yes, this nicely adds up to the answer offered by Sir Hilary as to the
conquest of the Everest ("Because it is there").

The best illustration of this rationale for space initiatives in general is
AFAIK  The Survival Imperative: Using Space to Protect
Earth<http://www.amazon.com/Survival-Imperative-Using-Space-Protect/dp/0765311151/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243858701&sr=1-1>
by
William E. Burrows, which comes up with a number of scenarios where a
presence in space may contribute to our survival, besides the obvious fact
of not keeping all the eggs in the same basket, and including to our
survival and prosperity *on Earth*.

-- 
Stefano Vaj
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