11 thoughts on “The Unexpected Space Debate”

  1. If religions, the greats religions [not cults] were interested in space, would politicians think space was important?

    At some point there will be a church on the Moon- what religion will have the first church on the Moon?
    What would it look like?
    A normal lunar structure- storage space converted into a chapel.
    Or something primitive like Stonehenge or a temple to nature.
    Or some kind monumental church- a Gothic church.
    How about the domed city which is a church building- the church being the foundation of the community. You could make a dome with a middle support, but in this case the church build is pillar type struture holding up the dome.

  2. Gbaikie, I’m pretty sure the lunar church was built around a mysterious black monolith of unkown origin. Of course the religion’s members are called “lunatics.”

  4. Thomas, I don’t think bowing toward Mecca from the moon really works, as the moon is in the heavens, which would amount to someone in heaven worshipping the Earth. That could bring up unsettling points, such as the question whether the person was:

    1) Worshipping the planet, “mother Earth”, which is pagan or wickan.

    2) Bowing to the humans while in the heavens, which is what got Satan in trouble.

    3) Worshipping the Earth’s core or mantle regions, which is a sure sign of serving Satan.

    Surely someone on the moon would pray toward the more distant regions of the heavens, instead of bowing toward our xBox infested sphere crawling with all sorts of nasty insects, worms, dogs, and pigs.

  5. Interesting arguments, but it really depends on what Islamic religious leaders decide.

    It will also be interesting to see if they find funding for it. Saudi Arabia funds a lot of mosques and they have a prince interested in space.

  6. Well, if it helps boost Muslim self-esteem, I’m sure NASA will make it the top priority, but there might be a few quirks, like women not being allowed to drive the moon buggy.

  8. George,

    And exactly why would NASA be involved? Do they have a monopoly on the Moon?

  9. Trent,

    Of course the big question is exactly what did Newt Gingrich do for NASA and space commerce while he was Speaker of the House? And actually had the power to do something. That would be the best sign if this is really more then a mere campaign statement.

  10. Thomas, if the Saudis are funding it then they’ll need foreign expertise, which probably means NASA. After all, they don’t even operate their own oil wells (or much of the rest of their country). They hire Americans, Europeans, and Filipinos for that. That would mesh perfectly with NASA’s Muslim outreach program.

    Recall that NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said, “When I became the NASA administrator — or before I became the NASA administrator — he charged me with three things. One was he wanted me to help re-inspire children to want to get into science and math, he wanted me to expand our international relationships, and third, and perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science … and math and engineering.”

    So such a program would be the perfect blend of goals, expertise, and funding.

  11. That would be the best sign if this is really more then a mere campaign statement.

    This wasn’t a campaign statement. This is a passionately held belief on the part of Gingrich, which got attention by sheer coincidence. However, if Gingrich had been president, we might have had a rational US space policy. Obama has the right instincts because cares neither about the special interests nor about space policy, but at the same time that is the reason he isn’t willing to spend more political capital fighting the vested interests. Gingrich on the other hand has the right policies because he cares about space and unlike Obama he would be willing to call in favours to defeat the porkers and I think he would win.

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