ISSN:
1573-0794
Keywords:
Human spaceflight
;
space exploration
;
space infrastructure
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Geosciences
,
Physics
Notes:
Abstract I argue that science stands to benefit from the infrastructure developed to support a human space programme. By infrastructure I mean all those facilities and capabilities which purely scientific budgets could never afford to develop, but which nevertheless act to facilitate scientific research which would not otherwise take place. For example, the human presence on the Moon during the Apollo Project resulted in the acquisition of scientific data which would not have been obtained otherwise, and the same is likely to hold true for future human missions to both the Moon and Mars (and indeed elsewhere). In the more distant future, an important scientific application of a well-developed human spaceflight infrastructure may be the construction of interstellar space probes for the exploration of planets around other nearby stars.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1013199126659
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