And, in my estimation, our present national security position would benefit from closer relations with the Russians. Your work could provide a basis for closer relations. Russians have been dealing with Islamic jihads, sometimes successfully, since before the discovery of our own New World.
Their scientists must often make greater personal sacrifices to achieve their results than Western scientists, but it would be imprudent to distain their cooperation for that reason. Rather, with the end of the Cold War and the start of a new conflict, we should be trying to enhance Russia�s material well-being.
As you may know, the catchy name �Energia� survives in a Russian web site:
http://www.energia.ru/english/
The launch of their Energia booster came thirty years after the launch of their Sputnik. They seemed to be hoping for a second triumph similar to that of 1957. The fact that they didn�t get that triumph was due to haste of action brought on by Cold War pressures and to inherent Soviet political weaknesses which were becoming apparent at about that time. And both the NASA effort to develop your concept and the later parallel Soviet effort suffered from having too many cooks at work at one time in each of the two competing aerospace �kitchens.�
I think there�s an opportunity now to consider various ways in which SSP could be developed. Oil prices are at or near record highs. Demand for oil is also at or near a record. And efforts to regulate carbon emissions have been only partially successful.
Such regulation does not appeal to the �inner cowboy� that inhabits every human psyche�but to build and launch a new device is proactive and should be easier to promote. I am hoping that, through my company�s near-term journalistic efforts, we might be able to identify obstacles�whether political, technical, geographic, ecological, or economic�and get a better idea of what might be possible with SSP.
I�m also hoping that our actions will be agreeable to you. Some scientists find my habit of mixing science, politics, and current events distasteful. You yourself may not agree with my political ideas. However I think I can point to a good past track record. When scientific ideas are too esoteric, the public may not get the full potential benefit of those ideas. Thus I�ve chosen to involve myself with the mass media. Even though a lot of what is in newspapers and on TV is nonsense, there is also a lot of quality journalism in the mix if one looks for it. And Karl Gauss thought science should be put to practical use. I feel the same way.
If you have any further thoughts on the subject, we�d be happy to receive them. My phone is (317) 523-6943. This message will be posted on my web site:
www.geocities.com/gahnsd
An e-mail may be sent to me at :
[email protected]
Best Wishes,
David Gaus