The space shuttle: The Folly of Our Age

--- In spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com, "R.A. Hettinga" wrote:
>
> ref=/derbyshire/derbyshire200506160749.asp>
>
> The National Review
> John Derbyshire
>
> June 16, 2005, 7:49 a.m.
> The Folly of Our Age
> The space shuttle.
>
> Like the monster in some ghastly horror movie rising from the dead
for the umpteenth time, the space shuttle is back on the launch pad.
This grotesque, lethal white elephant - 14 deaths in 113 flights - is
the grandest, grossest technological folly of our age...

To R.A. Hettinga, respectfully,
In the nineteenth century there was another exceedingly expensive
and totally unjustified expenditure of national funds which the
popular press dubbed "Seward's Folly". Today that piece of government
extravagance is the great state of Alaska.
There are those who believe that the future of mankind lies in
becomming a spacefaring species. There are those who think this idea
is folly. Since entire books have been written arguing each side of
this issue, I will only say here that I believe in the former.

Chris