I listened to the BBC News on NPR.
 
"Well, we hope this is for the benefit of everyone and not just for the power-hungry, greedy few."


Jeez, that sticks in my craw.

Mr. St. Clair,

No, because of the cosmic-ray obstacle especially, discussed in Eugene Parker’s article, I don’t think man will travel personally to Mars or into deep space. It is a wee bit more likely that we will have artificial descendants able to do that sort of travel, such as the descendants in AI.

The wonderful thing is that there are plenty of science- and technology-steps of the mind by which humans will continue to travel unlimited roads in space exploration (but not in person) and right here.

Stephen

The technical obstacles to using Apophis and pals are unknown to me.

The report of the National Academies project Evaluation of Radiation Shielding for Space Exploration was due to be issued this spring. So we should learn more soon about the prospects for shielding in the present and next generation. Advances in shielding materials, anyway, is something useful on earth and its satellites.

One less bleak prospect for space travel mentioned by Prof. Parker is the biomedical side of the radiation problem. “Natural healing processes in the cell may be able to handle radiation doses that accumulate over an extended period, and some people’s bodies may be better at it than others’. If so, the present estimates of the cancer incidence, all based on short, intense bursts of radiation, may overestimate the danger” (Sci. Am., Mar. 2006, p. 47). It occurs to me that, in the distant future, we might have such easy and sure cures for all types of cancer, and for other radiation injuries, that the problem would be dissolved. Let’s try for those medical advances anyway, regardless of advantage for space travelers.

Ice Evidence