January 09, 2003

Rand Simberg comments on the so-called 'spin-off argument' for space development. I've come across this argument several times myself; in one discussion I had on sci.space.policy, Paul Blase remarked: I do not find it improbable that the cure for AIDS or breast cancer could end up requiring null-G labs or some compound found on Mars. I do not find it improbable that the cure for AIDS or breast cancer will be discovered soon in an ordinary Earth-bound lab. In fact, I bet just about anyone -- including scientists in the relevant fields -- would say that spending money that directly focused on trying to solve these problems would have more success than spending money on space development, and crossing your fingers, hoping that some miracle compound will be discovered on Mars or a null-G lab that can cure AIDS and cancer. That is to say, Rand's right: the 'spin-off' argument isn't very impressive. There are excellent reasons for space development, so why resort to this sorry argument? thus ranteth Pericles v. 2.0 at 8:37 PM | Permalink |