WEEKLY WHINE

Interaction: Charting our course

Myers: Hello, and welcome to Cape Canaveral, FL, USA for this week's edition of Interaction. It's now just more than a week since the heartbreaking loss of the Space Shuttle orbiter Columbia and her crew just fifteen minutes before they were due to touch down here at Kennedy Space Center. Since then there have been many questions about what will next happen in space. Should the rest of the Space Shuttle fleet continue to fly? Should a replacement be constructed? Should we set our goals even higher or just mope about staring at our socks? I'm Debbie Myers, and with me today are some of the people who will help decide that future. First, the president of the Society for an Interplanetary Society, Mr Paul Rafaello.

Rafaello: Good day.

Myers: Ms Josefina Rechtangulaar is the associate coordinator of the European Space Exploration Council.

Rechtangulaar: Hi there.

Myers: Ms Chona Skalar is the projects manager at India Satellite Systems.

Skalar: [straddling chair backward] Hi there.

Myers: And the sorta goodselling author of Why Space Is Pretty Neat, Mr Takahara Gachike.

Gachike: How's it going?

Myers: Good to have you all here today. Paul, we'll go to you first. What should the next major accomplishment in spaceflight be?

Rafaello: Well, certainly it's time to establish a human presence on at least five different bodies in the solar system. Four is too few, and six is too many. There should be five.

Myers: Certainly something to think about there. Josefina, what should humanity's next target be?

Rechtangulaar: Humanity should clearly begin to work on projects that have tangible benefits for ourselves here on Earth. The sorts of applied benefits that we sometimes get from space programmes are not enough. A dedicated project should be started to ensure that an important task is begun. In particular, we should begin the work necessary to gain the ability to carve giant messages onto the surfaces of other worlds.

Myers: An unusual idea. Chona, what long term goals should the world's spacefaring nations set?

Skalar: It is a well known fact that Earth is the only planet with a name that is spelt with an E, followed by an A, an R, a T, and an H. [leans forward on chair] But we must ask ourselves, how much longer can Earth remain unique? It is clear that we must explore Earth's linguistic uniqueness much more.

Myers: Noble sentiments in that regard. Takahara, in what way should space exploration take advantage of the neatness of space?

Gachike: Wouldn't it be better than not going into space?

Myers: Well, let's see if our panel can tackle that question. Chona, would you care to speculate what would happen if the exploration of space stopped?

Skalar: [tilts chair back] No, not really.

Myers: Umm... how about you, Josefina?

Rechtangulaar: That much is clear. There would never be any giant messages on the surfaces of other worlds for us to read.

Myers: I see. Paul, do you agree with that assessment?

Rafaello: If humans stop exploring space, there will be only one inhabited world. That is far too few, the correct number being five.

Myers: Hmmm. Well, it's time to field questions from our viewers, and remember, you can get your questions to us either by telephone, facsimile, E-mail, telegraph, snail mail, slug mail, python mail, or tadpole mail. Our first question is by tadpole mail, and it's from Midshipperson Sara Lang on board the all female nuclear submarine SSN Mrs O'Leary's Cow. Sara asks whether the other Space Shuttle orbiters will be safe to fly. Takahara?

Gachike: Why wouldn't they be?

Myers: Well, Discovery and Atlantis are nearly as old as Columbia was, and in fact, Discovery has flown more missions.

Gachike: Why is that a concern?

Myers: They do make occasional trips to California for repairs and upgrades, but is that enough?

Gachike: Don't you think it should be?

Myers: I'm asking the questions. Let's go over to you, Chona. What is your opinion of the Space Shuttle's safety record?

Skalar: What is surprising about the fleet of orbiters is that they have all been given names that begin with one of the first five letters of the English alphabet. We should recognise this as the omen that it is. Also note that both of the orbiters that have names beginning with C are no more. [bashes fist into chair] As a precautionary measure, we should ground all spacecraft that have a C anywhere in their names, including Discovery.

Myers: Well, with that, we'll have to move on to our next question, and it's from Manuel in Maracaibo, Venezuela. Manuel, are you there?

Manuel in Maracaibo: Yes I am. Hello.

Myers: Hello Manuel. What is your question?

Manuel in Maracaibo: I'm considering a business move and I'd like some advice.

Myers: Er, this week's programme is about space.

Manuel in Maracaibo: Yeah, yeah, it's a space business move I'm considering.

Myers: I see. What exactly is it?

Manuel in Maracaibo: I want to buy a Space Shuttle.

Myers: Come again?

Manuel in Maracaibo: What was that? I didn't copy.

Myers: You want to buy a Space Shuttle?

Manuel in Maracaibo: Yes.

Myers: Which one?

Manuel in Maracaibo: The one in my local hobby shop.

Myers: Come again?

Manuel in Maracaibo: What was that? I didn't copy.

Myers: A Space Shuttle in a local shop?

Manuel in Maracaibo: Yeah. It comes with assembly instructions.

Myers: And how much is this Space Shuttle selling for?

Manuel in Maracaibo: Forty US dollars.

Myers: Forty US dollars?

Manuel in Maracaibo: Yeah.

Myers: And what are you going to do with this Space Shuttle?

Manuel in Maracaibo: Fly it, of course. What else does one do with a Space Shuttle?

Myers: Right. I think we learned a lot from that question. So let's go now to Al Davis in Oakland, CA, USA. In his E-mail, he asks what large scale programmes we can begin to excite the public about space exploration again. Josefina?

Rechtangulaar: Well, for the last two months, I've had a group at the European Space Exploration Council do a feasibility study on an exciting new idea, that of carving giant messages onto the surfaces of other worlds. For example, it now seems possible to send a Mars Scout-class mission that consists of a small rover which does nothing but run about the planet digging ditches. Consequently, when it's done, you'd be able to look at Mars in your telescope and see the words "CABBAGE TASTES FUNNY" or whatever we want to write there on it.

Myers: And what would be the motivation for such a project?

Rechtangulaar: This is something that all of humanity can get behind and be proud of. For example, take Venus. It has a very hot surface with a high atmospheric pressure, so the technical problems in front of carving giant messages are enormous.

Myers: Well, what about you, Paul? What sort of programme would you create to capture the public's interest?

Rafaello: I would institute a programme wherein four other bodies in the solar system are inhabited. For instance, Mars, the Moon, Ganymede, and Ceres. This gives us the five inhabited worlds we need to survive as a species. Otherwise, nothing will work.

Myers: And why is that?

Rafaello: Isn't that clear? We need at least five, because four or less provide too much of a risk of infection. After all, what happens when the Sun becomes a red giant? And there must be an odd number so that the Interplanetary Senate can never have a tie.

Myers: Well then, what about seven?

Rafaello: What do you mean? Seven is right out.

Myers: Um, I see. We have one more question, and it's from Patrice in Bloemfontein, South Africa. Patrice, are you there?

Patrice in Bloemfontein: Yes, hi.

Myers: Hello. What is your question?

Patrice in Bloemfontein: Will there be more space tourists like Mark Shuttleworth?

Myers: A very complex question. Takahara?

Gachike: Why are you asking me?

Myers: [pause] I'm just going to ignore that.

Gachike: What gives you the right to do that?

Myers: [pause] And that.

Gachike: What colour are those socks?

Myers: [pause] Okay. Josefina, have you any insight about space tourism?

Rechtangulaar: Clearly the way to make space tourism big is to give the tourists the ability to carve their own giant messages onto the surfaces of other worlds.

Myers: What do you have to say about space tourism, Chona?

Skalar: What's important is that the two space tourists so far, Shuttleworth and Dennis Tito, had no Cs in their name, which, as we established earlier, means they're safe. [tips over chair, nearly falls onto her face]

Myers: But there's a C in your name.

Skalar: There is? Eek! You're right! [jumps up and crawls under chair]

Myers: I believe that's going to be it for Interaction this week. Thanks to Mr Takahara Gachike, Ms Chona Skalar, Ms Josefina Rechtangulaar, and Mr Paul Rafaello for making some sort of appearance on the programme this week. Coming up next week, we travel to Beijing to continue our series on the future of space travel. We'll examine the possibility of a Chinese human flight by the end of the year, talking to a spacecraft designer, a spacesuit designer, a launch vehicle designer, and a cockpit switch designer. Till then, good night.

Gachike: Is she going to be okay?

Skalar: [shaking dramatically] My name starts with a C! I'm doomed!