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September 28, 2005
Humans Must Push to Their Limits to Survive
The following letter was published in the New York Times, September 25, 2005, in response to an op-ed piece by Robert Park on September 22, "The Dark Side of the Moon". Republished here with permission of the author, Greg Zsidisin, president of the NYC chapter.
To the Editor:
Robert L. Park says the proposed return to the Moon is a "poison pill," signifying the end of human space exploration. But the poisonous notion is that humans should not venture beyond their immediate biosphere.
Humans must push to their limits, whatever those end up being, to ultimately survive as a species.
Machines are an invaluable tool and will undoubtedly play a larger role in future human exploration. There are indeed places they can go that we cannot. We should not choose, however, to explore always and only by proxy.
As for the current program's 13-year gestation over Apollo's eight, today's NASA must phase out two existing programs, the shuttle and the International Space Station, to proceed without the luxury of an Apolloesque money-dump.
Greg Zsidisin President, New York City Chapter
National Space Society
New York, Sept. 22, 2005
Posted by apsmith at September 28, 2005 02:46 AM
