Hello Lucio

That's an interesting perspective. It would be interesting to see how SSI
members would feel about their research being used by China and India to
build their space colonisation programs, because the US program was in
decline.

Andrew

> I guess that it is a natural assumption that the society for the first
> space colony will be modelled on US society.

If I had heard this "natural assumption" ten years ago, it would have
sounded
natural to me too. But not nowadays my, uh, faith on that assumption is
failing. Maybe it is just my foreign perception, but human space flight in
the US seems stagnant or even decadent (there are even American citizens
actively *against* human space flight), and there are emerging countries
struggling real hard to close the gap. I wonder if some of them will not
succeed and even surpass the US in astronautics.

> Cheers

Cheers

> Andrew Wynberg

Lucio

>> (...)
>> I guess that it is a natural assumption that the society for the
>> first space colony will be modelled on US society.

> If I had heard this "natural assumption" ten years ago, it would
> have sounded natural to me too. But not nowadays my, uh, faith on
> that assumption is failing. Maybe it is just my foreign perception,

We 'Mericans need to hear that from time to time, so you go right on
ahead. And if we've lost the ability to listen, it serves us right.

> but human space flight in the US seems stagnant or even decadent
> (there are even American citizens actively *against* human space

There always have been, even in the days of Apollo.

> flight), and there are emerging countries struggling real hard to
> close the gap. I wonder if some of them will not succeed and even
> surpass the US in astronautics.

They will if we don't get off our butts and do some meaningful
stuff. And again, it will serve us right. It will serve U.S. right.

> Cheers

>> Andrew Wynberg
> (...)

> Lucio

Xenophile (who notes that there IS hope... but who is also trying to
learn a bit of Japanese)