Marc Malone
2009-01-17 21:56:09
The article and its responses are all intelligent, but I think everyone is overlooking one vital factor; private enterprise just cannot do it alone. Government is highly inefficient, but has a huge advantage; it needs not turn a profit.
However, for government to do the job, they need public support, which generally means good press (read sensationalism). Otherwise, science makes Americans yawn. If you make a video game out of controlling the robotics, or doing a launch, or somesuch, then suddenly, Americans get interested. And yes, we need heroes.
