Comments on: Bloomberg, Weiner, and asteroids

By: Donald F. Robertson

Donald F. Robertson — Tue, 26 Oct 2004 18:27:45 +0000

Interestingly, the NYT’s song on the Space Station, and human spaceflight in general, has drastically changed over the years. I remember a couple of decades ago when they were firmly in the “automated science is the only way to go” camp. Like the Clinton Administration, their initial opposition has become something far more naunced as they found “liberal” reasons to keep the project going. In fact, for better or worse, I believe the Clinton Administration saved the Space Station. The project was on the edge of cancellation when they took office, but the Administration found it a useful tool to help try to tie the Russion economy into the global economy. Bringing the remains of the Soviet Empire into the rest of the human fold alone justifies any amount of money spent on human spaceflight — it was cheap at the price.

Likewayse, the NYT ridiculed the Space Telescope, but since have clearly recognized that they were wrong, while perhaps never quite admitting.

The culture is changing, and with it the national view of spaceflight, even among those of us on the left.

— Donald

By: Brad

Brad — Mon, 25 Oct 2004 07:44:15 +0000

New York know-nothings

The Bloomberg aides who think asteroid collision is funny and the NYT which reports it as a “soft spot” reminds me of when the NYT belittled Robert Goddard.

From Wikipedia — Most notable however was the, retrospectively funny, response of The New York Times to Goddard’s landmark paper, “A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes.” The Times lambasted his research because “everybody knows” rockets won’t travel in the vacuum of space , where there’s nothing to push against. Goddard, the article claimed, “seems to lack the knowledge ladled out daily in high schools.”

By: Jim Muncy

Jim Muncy — Mon, 25 Oct 2004 05:00:18 +0000

Actually, HR3813 was introduced with an incorrect title. Chairman George Brown’s
middle initial was E, not R.

So the bill was reintroduced as HR 4544.

And Rep. Weiner is a co-sponsor of this bill,
which is correctly titled.

By: Mark Zinthefer

Mark Zinthefer — Sun, 24 Oct 2004 20:17:03 +0000

“intergalactic asteroid research”?

man, we have enough problems with ones in our solar system