what we really need to go into space

Wasn't Victoria the Queen that authorized the the
Opium trade with China?

"..there are those who smuggle opium to seduce the
Chinese people and so cause the spread of the poison
to all provinces. Such persons who only care to profit
themselves, and disregard their harm to others, are
not tolerated by the laws of heaven and are unanimoly
hated by human beings."

http://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~phalsall/texts/com-lin.html

Brunel didn't have it so well after the Great Eastern
fiasco.

1859. Brunel dies - death caused by overwork and
worry.

I'm not sure what kind of role models Victoria and
Brunel would be today. If Tony Blair is any example,
Victoria would be rooting for the invasion of Iraq.
Brunel might be designing supertankers and offshore
drilling rigs.

I recommend Henry J. Kaiser instead.
http://www.museumca.org/exhibit/exhi_kaiser.html

Cheers, Thor

--- In ssi_list@... "Claudio"
> Just watching a program about Victorian England, and
it occur to me
that is
> what we really need to go into space: a Victoria and
a Brunelle. An

That is spelled Brunel

There is a University named in his honour.

> illuminated president and a genial engineer. One
only of the
advanced
> economies deciding to spend massive amounts of cash
into space
colonisation,
> and a brilliant team of daring scientists that
manage to achieve
some result
> and the whole world would be driven into a space
race that would
make quick
> work of any technological issue!
> Think about it next time you go to vote... ;)
>

The Victorian colonial expansion was driven by the
profit motive, getting access to the natural and
agicultural riches of colonies across the oceans. So
they developed the necessary technologies to
conquer and hold those resources in remote places
around the globe.

The revenues gained paid for the technology many times
over.

Where is the profit motive for space "colonialism" ?
Of course most of you know my own opinions on that
subject :-)

Best regards,

Charles R.