Hello Raoul -
Too bad my history of cosmonautics never saw print...
Little doubt the illusion of an easily habitable Mars drove the space race, and this was an illusion which was widely held at those times. While a number of posters here still neurotically hold on to that illusion, the public at large no longer does.
My current thinking is that we are extremely forunate that reality can be as strong a driver for the space program as the illusion was, and further we are fortunate that the illusion has left us tools for dealing with the reality. See:
http://www.geocities.com/epgrondine
which still holds today as when I first put it up. I think I may leave it as a historical document, despite all the changes that have taken place since the time it was written.
If you want to see the corrupting influence following hype can lead to, just look at the German rocket societies between the war, and how they became twisted. As my German friends point out, it is truly amazing how an advanced culture can be led into insanity, and this is a process which is still not fully understood.
By the way, I really, really, despise Rick Tumlinson, not for anything personal, but just as the dangerous empty sloganeering idiot he is. And I also don't think much of his mouth-piece, Cowing.
EP
Space/Science » in reply to Hype or reality
Re: Hype or reality