Zubrin's stacked arguments

Al Globus wrote:

> There's orders of magnitude more money in space tourism than in Mars.

True, but NASA can't easily make money; it's not allowed
to (to a reasonable approximation.) The government can make
money, but they usually achieve this by a technique called
'taxation'. Taxing space tourism would be profitable too.

> Also note that there are three people vying for the next available Soyuz
> seat to the ISS. It's beginning to look like an real market. Actually,
> if NASA started selling spare shuttle seats it would be a market:
> mutiple suppliers and multiple customers.

It would not really be a market when a seat is heavily
subsidised; and few would pay the real price of
a Space Shuttle seat. The Russian seats actually make money.
Do we want NASA to do this? Really? Why would NASA want
to destroy space tourism? They aren't in that market. I
can't see how they can get in the market; and it isn't
clear that they should.

> Tourism is a lot more interesting to a lot more people than Mars is. No
> need to diss Mars or counter Zubrin's arguments, just push space
> tourism. It will win.

Maybe, but I don't think that NASA is or has the right
vehicle for doing Space Tourism. It might be the right
vehicle for going to Mars. The funding and politics
work better for that kind of thing; or atleast that's
what it seem to me.

It strikes me that I am now a Zubrinite ;-)

> Mr J R wrote:
>
>>Dear Al
>>
>>FYI, I have had one on one talks with Mr. Zubrin about
>>Mars vs Moon, etc. He told me this key point in early
>>1990, "...it doesn't mater what may appear to be right
>>or wrong, Joe, you have to go were the money is..."
>>Zubrin is a smart person, for sure, and Mars is a hot
>>subject, but I believe, and many others also believe
>>the money we are spending on Mars is premature and
>>should be spent on more pragmatic projects. But then
>>again, Zubrin is in the money and I am not. So what
>>does that make my opinion!? Makes me wonder what the
>>world is all really about :)
>>
>>Joe Russo
>>OuterSpaceDevelopment Community: Read our story to
>>learn about a man that is helping to make fiction into
>>reality at

--
- Ian Woollard (ian.woollard@...)

"Is a planetary surface the right place for an expanding
technological civilization?"
- Gerard O'Neill