The Cosmos

Now I'm a firm believer in space exploration, both robotic and human.

As for robotic exploration, it's safer and less expensive. It allows us to accomplish a lot more in a faster period of time. Human exploration, however, is what allows our spirits to soar and gives birth to our imaginations. We need both approaches.

The problem is money, which seems to be in very short supply these days. Now I'm not an economist, but it seems to me that if we devoted a lot more resources to space exploration, we could rev up the economy and generate new jobs.

Spinoffs from the research and technology would spawn new industries that would benefit mankind in many different ways, generating even more jobs. The real upside is that there would be no end in sight for the foreseeable future.

Sadly, it probably won't happen—at least not in the near future. All our resources seem dedicated to the industries that enable us to fight wars. To wit, the political-military-industrial complex.

Anyway, I found this article on the cosmos interesting and thought others might also:

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology...