Re: Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards
Might it not be a good idea to find out what's actually there before planning to colonize that rock? My guess is that what's there is nothing worth spending impressive amounts of money on in order to put humans up there. Robots can do the exploration better and cheaper.
Probably in future centuries some combination of need and reduced costs will justify humans in space. AFAICS, men on the moon or, worse, Mars, aren't likely going to happen in this century. At least not for more than an incredibly expensive photo-op. For that matter, why are substantial resources being wasted on the more or less pointless ISS? My opinion. Go back to the Skylab concept of a manned lab that is occasionally used when enough meaningful experiments that require direct human overersight are ready to be run. Spend the money instead on unmanned probes like this one, and on exploring the largely unexplored 70% or so of our planet that is permanently under water.
Congratulations to the Chinese for doing something in space that is actually cost effective.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
