James Van Allen dies at 91
Emenent scientist dies; was never on “American Idol”
James Van Allen, one of the pioneers of America’s space program who gave his name to the belts of radiation that encircle the Earth, died Wednesday. He was 91. Van Allen died of heart failure at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, said university spokesman Stephen Pradarelli.
My oldest son, when in grade school, did a presentation on the Van Allen belts. He lost one letter grade on the presentation because the assignment “was about space” and the Van Allen belts “had nothing to do with space”. It resulted in another of our frequent little impromptu parent-teacher conferences where I tried and failed not to sound condescending to a complete idiot entrusted with the education of children.
Despite being on the ground floor of America’s space program, Van Allen was critical of the decision to use manned flights. He believed that robotic instruments could do everything that human astronauts could while avoiding the danger of exposing fragile living beings to the harsh environment of space.
“Man is a fabulous nuisance in space,“ Van Allen said in 1959, shortly after the successful launch of Explorer 1, with which he was intimately involved. “He’s not worth all the costs of putting him up there and keeping him comfortable.“
- LA Times: James Van Allen
I’ve been sayin’! For what we’re wasting on the Shuttle and the ISS, we could send out a fleet of robotic space probes and do some real science.
I agree completely. Until we are ready to go out beyond our planet and STAY, the manned Mars program and manned Moon program are just stunts. We went through this for the past forty years and what have we wound up with? A faltering and unbelievably expensive shuttle program and the same for a space station that is now filled to capacity with only 3 people.
What would be a good use of public money? The continued development of (mostly successful so far) robotic spacecraft, the development of an optical/radar asteroid detection system, and the now politically unpopular earth observation satellites for starters.
Until we are ready to establish a permanent outpost, manned programs are a diversion to what our very long term goals SHOULD be - to have humans travel beyond our solar system.
Posted by Ed on 08/10/06 at 07:50 PMI agree 100% as well - let the robots go and do what needs to be done instead of trying to recapture the glory days by spending billions of dollars when we now know better! Argh.
Posted by Lisa W on 08/10/06 at 08:35 PM
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