Friday’s Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper, featured an op-ed on the economic stimulus package from a surprising source: Robert Zubrin, best known in the space community as perhaps the most dedicated (zealous?) advocate for human Mars exploration. Zubrin, identified in the piece not as founder of the Mars Society but instead as “a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies“, offered a three-point alternative to the current stimulus plans being discussed in Congress. Two of the items, making down payments on home purchases tax-deductable and requiring all new cars being sold in the US to be flex-fueled, have nothing to do with space, but the third most certainly did: “initiate a program to send humans to Mars within eight years”. His conclusion:
We can reach Mars within eight years, and we should. In doing so, we will make it clear to the world, and to ourselves, that we are a people whose can-do spirit can defy any limit, that we are living at the beginning of our history, not at its end, and that henceforth, our greatest deeds will continue to be celebrated in newspapers and not just in museums. We can not only beat the current recession, but soar far beyond it, into a wide-open future truly worthy of the promise that is America.
Given the difficulties getting even a modest bit of NASA funding in the stimulus package, the odds of this proposal getting considered, let alone enacted, are roughly zero—which may be true for his other proposals as well.
Obama’s campaign energy policy document had the following:
“Mandate All New Vehicles are Flexible Fuel Vehicles. Sustainably-produced biofuels can create jobs, protect the environment and help end oil addiction – but only if Americans drive cars that will take such fuels. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will work with Congress and auto companies to ensure that all new vehicles have FFV capability – the capability by the end of his first term in office.”
I think McCain was for this too. There are probably quite a few Congresspeople that would back it as well. Zubrin’s plan stresses as a central point that flex-fuel vehicles need to take methanol as well as gas and ethanol, but I don’t know if that’s what the politicians would implement (if anything). I’d guess with the current situation the government would have to help the automakers to make this kind of thing happen.
As for humans to Mars, I’m hard pressed to imagine how that would be a timely stimulus to help us get out of our curent economic problems. If it has merit (personally I’m much more concerned with how we get to the destinations rather than which ones we pick) it probably belongs in the regular funding cycle.
I’m sure big aero would be happy with the free welfare, but going to Mars wouldn’t do much for the rest of the economy.
However, given how much money we are printing and handing out to other industries (e.g. banking and auto) – if there ever was a time to get money for a Mars program (or SBSP), the time is now.
Ok, so Zubrin is in defence of Democracy. Sounds good.
Just don’t think he’s in the right place for growth stable economy.
I would go with eliminating the Fed Reserve. Monetary policy has to be dealt with first. Dollar currency valuation has to nailed to gold/silver/commodities metrics. You can’t continue using secret, arbitrary use of fraudulent metrics to value money.
Other than gold currency value needs to be tied to energy production, usage and store. People should be allowed to go to the Energy Bank (good bank) and purchase dollars/credits.
Prices of goods including houses need to come down.
Americans need to be educated producing quality, competitive product.
And best of all people could start saving more of their money.
One of the main reasons we as a species venture into space is:
-Exploration
-establish human habitat
-wealth creation
Does anyone have proof positive there couldn’t exist a celestial body in our solar system or on our stellar neighbour harbouring gold deposits in excess of 158,000 tons as of year 2006; 50 times greater than has ever been mined of this planet?
Dr. Zubrin is completely out of touch on this one. There is zero real support on Capitol Hill for a Humans to Mars initiative. Any politician proposing such a mission will be subjected to ridicule. Even Sen. McCain, who talked about Mars during the presidential campaign, will not lift a finger.
There are a dozen Members of Congress — on both sides of the aisle — ready to go on the attack against any member who seriously proposed such an initiative. Democrats would oppose it as a “waste of money when other priorities are unfunded”. Republicans would attack it as wasteful spending in an era of deficit spending. It is a perfect storm.
There is not one single Member of Congress who will stick their neck out on this one.
Bob is demonstrating that he is a real rocket scientist.
– Al
“Politics is not rocket science, which is why rocket scientists do not understand politics.”
There’s probably more real stimulus in Zubrin’s plan than there is in the pork-laden bill that came out of the House.
There’s probably more real stimulus in Zubrin’s plan than there is in the pork-laden bill that came out of the House.
That’s a pretty low bar. An ant could crawl across it…