12.12.2005
Moon Planet
I know you've already seen this, but I admit I just caught up with Ryan Zelnio's article in which he responds to Mike Griffin's call for ideas for bringing in partners to help implement the Vision for Space Exploration with, A model for the international development of the Moon -- interesting, right down to the location of the administrative offices (about 15 minutes from my apartment in NYC apparently) of the newly proposed International Lunar Development Agency (ILDA).
And then there was T.L. James' challenge (in MarsBlog) to Ryan's model, followed by Ryan's rebuttal. Good reading and I wanted to note it here. Better to blog late than never.
Speaking of international cooperation, Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Science and Space Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) called last week for the U.S to finish building ISS and reach out to China and others to share costs. (Link via Keith Cowing). Of course, many have argued, as Rand Simberg puts it, "international cooperation in fact tends to increase costs, and there's little good evidence that it even saves money. It's something that we tend to do simply for the sake of international cooperation, and we actually pay a price for it." There is also the sentiment that, while nothing beats the free market for commercial ventures, when governments do space, there is a significant value to cooperation for which we have yet to develop a reasonable calculus (at least to get past what T.L. James refers to the "Kumbayaa" good will of internationalism generally, which incidentally, I have no particular problem with if it gets us there). In any case, global cooperation remains one of the many interesting challenges in space development.
(But for now...if you'll excuse me, I've got this week's edition of The Space Review waiting....)
And then there was T.L. James' challenge (in MarsBlog) to Ryan's model, followed by Ryan's rebuttal. Good reading and I wanted to note it here. Better to blog late than never.
Speaking of international cooperation, Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Science and Space Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) called last week for the U.S to finish building ISS and reach out to China and others to share costs. (Link via Keith Cowing). Of course, many have argued, as Rand Simberg puts it, "international cooperation in fact tends to increase costs, and there's little good evidence that it even saves money. It's something that we tend to do simply for the sake of international cooperation, and we actually pay a price for it." There is also the sentiment that, while nothing beats the free market for commercial ventures, when governments do space, there is a significant value to cooperation for which we have yet to develop a reasonable calculus (at least to get past what T.L. James refers to the "Kumbayaa" good will of internationalism generally, which incidentally, I have no particular problem with if it gets us there). In any case, global cooperation remains one of the many interesting challenges in space development.
(But for now...if you'll excuse me, I've got this week's edition of The Space Review waiting....)
