(I wrote much of this first to Bruce and John offlist, but I realized upon re-reading that it might have general list significance.)
I would tend to agree with John that we may want to simply let the investigation run its course. Unfortunately the news media seem to be turning up revealing details. In Intense Debate, Engineers Predicted Extent of Liftoff Damage Matthew L. Wald and William J. Broad. NY Times, Feb. 27, 2003: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/27/national/nationalspecial/27SHUT.html?pagewanted=print To NASA's credit, they are being very open and quick about revealing details of internal discussions. But it would appear that before the shuttles can fly again some significant refinement is going to be required to both the external tank bipod attachment as well as the wheel well areas. Not trivial upgrades. (Yes, Bruce, I know you would probably like to scratch the whole mess (shuttles, ISS, etc.) but being realistic, I really doubt that is likely to occur.) To really push that concept you (Bruce) need to present a really good alternative to not "how do we explore the solar system?" but "how do we save humanity?". There are people who inherently grasp the priorities. The "exploration" part is pointless without the "saving" part. There are just *too* many people that have seen Armageddon and the very best argument one could make in the world (peer reviewed, signed and stamped by numerous experts, etc.) doesn't carry *any* weight against Liv Tyler's tears. It doesn't matter that the risks (to humanity) are low, and perhaps going lower (cite many of Larry Klaes's recent msgs). What matters is that every single human being knows that if they end up on the wrong side of the dice roll that everything that they have ever done, worked for, hoped for, desired, etc. would be pointless. I'll freely admit that probably billions of humans are not up to that level of awareness (perhaps all those that haven't seen Armageddon) -- but they would all appreciate the concept. Hope & desire seem likely to be key aspects of what gets us out of bed in the morning. Remove those (say through the discovery of an incoming NEO that we cannot prevent) and it seems probable that one destroys key aspects of humanity if not humanity itself. Robert == You are subscribed to the Europa Icepick mailing list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Project information and list (un)subscribe info: http://klx.com/europa/
