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From: Richard [mailto:rabrooks@...]

> Faith? Ruling out a whole world without taking a look!
>
> I'd say that Tangoman is the one running on faith. Mars is worthless.

Tangoman does not have "faith that Mars is worthless". He is being a
skeptic. A skeptic is not someone who believes in a negative, but one
who reserves judgment on a positive until evidence is in.

A skeptic is willing to change his position if better evidence arrives.
If Spirit or Opportunity discover dilithium crystals on Mars tomorrow,
and we don't change our position, then there's something wrong with us.
But in the meanwhile, we don't see anything wrong with suggesting that
purely hypotheticals should be left out of a serious conversation.

> I say there may be something on Mars. Hardly seems like faith to me.

But anyone who foresees the colonization of Mars is basing it on the
faith that "something" will come up later. You say you're not
particularly a Mars enthusiast, so maybe that's not you. But they're
out there. And Tangoman is hardly exaggerating when he says that it has
become a religious belief for some. And their treatment of O'Neill's
work resembles the devout's treatment of heresy.

> Well, Mike, I think the asteroids are better than Mars.
> So why should I put much effort into defending Mars?

That's common ground between us. In the near-term, I certainly expect
the first generation of space habitats to be built in HEO. But in the
long term, I expect far more will be built in the Belt, to the point
where the population in the Belt exceeds both that on Earth and around
it.

Regards,

Mike Combs