Fred Singer reels off a list of Big Science objectives for humans-to-Mars-as-NASA’s-new-goal missions. He poo-poohs the “human destiny in space” idealism in favor of the usual “science for its own sake”.
What’s wrong with both colonization and exploration? Why do so many seem to think the two are mutually exclusive?
UPDATE: It would probably help to include the link to Singer’s article.
Can you please provide a link to Mr. Singer’s comments so that I may grind my teeth down further?
If Mr. Singer wants to see his dreams of exploration fulfilled, he would do well to embrace rather than dismiss the concepts of settlement and “human destiny” in space. His desire, even if it were shared with all the other scientists in the world, is not be enough to justify the effort and expense of a humans-to-Mars program.
While science and exploration are very good reasons for going, they are not the only reasons. And they are certainly not the only reasons that appeal to the general public. This attitude is part of the reason Mr. Singer may never get to see his dream fulfilled.