Space Forum / Astronomy / August 2004

alt.astronomy:

News item:

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Thursday, August 26, 2004 Posted: 9:43 AM EDT (1343 GMT)
   
LONDON (Reuters) -- Climate experts at NASA believe they have found a
way of forecasting droughts and floods months in advance, the New
Scientist magazine reported on Wednesday.

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The theory runs that water evaporating from soil is a major source of
vapor that creates cloud and rain, so the drier the earth, the greater
the chance of drought -- and vice-versa.

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Opinions:

Basically, NASA is saying, "Help. We have this highly interesting
information and discovery of a new method of science. Here it is."

Doesn't the USA have a national weather agency to cover that type of
subject matter? In the interests of a hierarchical metaphysics shouldn't
NASA set up an inter-agency deal so that the information is
appropriately transferred? Of course credits to NASA and its employees
and contractors can be released to the press.

Whether or not the national weather agency and NASA should be sold to
private enterprise, not to mention huge list of other concerns, is a
matter that supposed free-enterpriser, GWB, has failed to mention.

NASA, by the way, has been financing the hugely expensive development of
all manner of inventions and, also, paying for the expensive patent
fees. It is also offering the patents to the public for licensing, for
which it receives royalties. See, "NASA Tech Briefs", for listings of
the available off-topic inventions. NASA can't be said to be in
business, however, as a science and product laboratory that creates
valuable new products it might be a business. Edison did it.

I think that inventions in areas unrelated to space technology, i.e.,
electronics, or consumer medicines, should be ignored by NASA. The ideas
submitted for development by its employees should be refused by NASA in
the same way that they are refused to private firms - by writing a nice
letter that says" "No, and thank you for thinking of us. We wish you
luck with your idea outside of NASA." Or the appropriate words -
possibly the same letter that private individuals or firms would get
upon the rejection of their submissions of ideas. NASA may, of course,
buy ideas from outside inventors where that may be appropriate.

NASA should limit its energies to its central mission. Part of that
mission is military and that should be continued, if not expanded.

Additionally, NASA should say No in the area of manned space exploration
to Mars. The interjection by President Bush in his setting goals to
explore the solar system and land humans on Mars should be refused by
NASA. Fortunately, the distance is tens of thousands of light years to
the next nearest star, and that prevents GWB from exploring that. NASA
should set the programs for scientifically logical development of
exploration, and not the chief politician of the USA.

One subject is the Moon. That has plenty of geology and history to work
on. It it also a perfect place for very large high-resolution optical
and radio telescopes, for example. The Moon could, also, be mapped using
a high-frequency geodesic grid system, and survey markers could be
dropped at knowable locations. Private enterprise and Liberty under the
dominion and protection of the USA could be established, and the Moon
homesteaded only by private firms, for example. A US military presence
should be maintained there. A US Moon base could oversee homesteading
from private individuals and companies from all free countries. No
tyrannies, that is.

NASA could continue its relatively low cost robotic programs in the
solar system and limit manned exploration to the Earth's orbital system
and the Moon for the foreseeable future.

There is plenty to accomplish right in our own local area.

GWB should keep his mystical religious interjectionism out of NASA's
activities. NASA should be asked for alternate programs that propose
possible collections of multi-year projects, and Congress may at its
discretion provide the funding. The scientists should be in the
limelight and not the interjectionist President scientist-poseur of the USA.

Ralph Hertle