Carl Sagan thought that the ISS was a waste of money

[Phil Perry]

This is an extract form an interview with Carl Sagan, conducted at 'Playboy Magazine' some time ago, where he poured scorn on the reasons for the International Space Station. . .

 

Sagan: The shuttle is an attempt at bureaucratic self-maintenance.

 

Playboy: You obviously disapprove of the program. Why?

 

Sagan: When the Apollo program ended, there was no long-term

 

goal for NASA; it had to invent a goal, and the shuttle was it. But,

 

mostly, there is no reason for the shuttle. For example, the objective

 

of the Challenger mission, which killed seven brave Americans, was to

 

launch a communications satellite. But we’ve been launching

 

communications satellites for decades with unmanned rockets that don’t

 

risk people’s lives.

 

Playboy: NASA says we need the shuttle to construct and maintain its proposed space station, Freedom.

 

Sagan: But why do we need the space station? One answer: because the shuttle has to do something.

 

Playboy: We would imagine you to be a staunch supporter of the space station.

 

Sagan: What is it good for?

 

Playboy: For starters, isn’t it a fairly exciting science lab in space?

 

Sagan: For what? For observing the earth or the stars? No,

 

because you do that with the robot satellites. So what is it for? For

 

manufacturing in gravity-free environments? That was an original

 

argument–you could make pharmaceuticals, cure cancer, make ball

 

bearings–but you could tell very early that that was a fantasy.

 

Essentially, no American corporation was willing to spend significant

 

money on the space station as a place to do its manufacturing. You don’t

 

hear much these days about space industrial parks.

 

The full article. Interesting even if you don't agree with all his opinions:

 

http://davidsheff.com/artic...

 

 

[octave]

I have read most of Sagan's popular books and admire him greatly. As a teenager, I was obsessed with astronomy and was a member of the astronomical society in Adelaide.

 

I have read this article before and I both agree and disagree. It is very true that much of the science done on ISS could be done in other ways however there is another benefit in my view and that is the human interest aspect. The moon landings had a profound effect on my life. Even though we could (and the USSR did) send autonomous probes, there is something magical about a human visiting the moon. I quite like what Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal said

 

As Lord Rees says: "My view about manned space flight is that, as a scientist and practical man, I'm against it, but as a human being, I'm in favour of it."

 

Also in 2015, he was co-author of the report that launched the Global Apollo Programme, which calls for developed nations to commit to spending 0.02% of their GDP for 10 years, to fund co-ordinated research to make carbon-free baseload electricity less costly than electricity from coal by the year 2025

 

But that is another debate

 

Having said that I love regularly checking in to NASA TV to see work aboard ISS. I do also love the unmanned projects.The fact that the "experts" can send a probe over such amazing distances with such accuracy is mind blowing

 

 

[Phil Perry]

One of the most mind blowing probes I thought, was actually landing one successfully on a chunk of celestial rock, which only had a tiny amount of gravity ! . . . incredible use of technology that was. . .

 

 

[Marty_d]

Carl Sagan was brilliant. Loved both the book and the movie of "Contact".

 

If you're into believable hard-science SF, I can highly recommend the trilogy by Cixin Liu - start with "The Three Body Problem".

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Carl Sagan was brilliant. Loved both the book and the movie of "Contact".

If you're into believable hard-science SF, I can highly recommend the trilogy by Cixin Liu - start with "The Three Body Problem".

Odd that,. . I always thought that sexin lieu, was promising a lady of the night that you'd pay her next week. . . .

 

OH,. . . .Cixin liu. . .SORRY MATE ! no offence intended ( cleans spectacles )

 

 

[Marty_d]

Odd that,. . I always thought that sexin lieu, was promising a lady of the night that you'd pay her next week. . . .

 

 

OH,. . . .Cixin liu. . .SORRY MATE ! no offence intended ( cleans spectacles )

Phil, I suspect that you have been visiting websites of a slightly racier nature than this one...

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Phil, I suspect that you have been visiting websites of a slightly racier nature than this one...

Nah mate. . .I gave up looking at porn decades ago. . . . all that puffin' an pantin' can't be good for old folks. . .

 

 

[Marty_d]

Nah mate. . .I gave up looking at porn decades ago. . . . all that puffin' an pantin' can't be good for old folks. . .

Decades ago you watched old folks porn? Each to their own I guess...

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Decades ago you watched old folks porn? Each to their own I guess...

You mean to seriously tell me that you and your mates didn't crowd around looking at stick books behind the bike sheds at junior school . . ?. . .Really ?. . . when we did,. . .they all looked like old folks to us. . . .

 

 

[Marty_d]

You mean to seriously tell me that you and your mates didn't crowd around looking at stick books behind the bike sheds at junior school . . ?. . .Really ?. . . when we did,. . .they all looked like old folks to us. . . .

I remember one enterprising lad who would pay his adult brother $20 for a couple of stick mags, cut the pages out, and sell them to other boys in class for $2 each. He's probably running a bank now.