Jeff is mainstream, and he
understandsAnd yeah, frankly I think humanity needs to colonize the solar system. We need to have not just an outpost on the moon, but full-fledged cities. Why? Because we can! Because as unlikely as it may be, one good asteroid could wipe out life on this planet, and the human race is too precious to entrust to just one world.
Phi knows how to
make it happen.
If we competed against China by announcing (hefty) prizes for private orbiters and moon shots and so on, I think that'd give us an added PR victory as a defeat of centrally planned economic activity, as well. And it seems to me both cheaper and more likely to succeed.
Glenn Reynolds questions the current
NASA PlanI'm all for Moon colonies, and I realize that the better can be the enemy of the good. But I'm not at all sure that this plan puts the money in the right place.
