Dear Mark,

My first experience with a public BBS was MSNBC's space board.

You taught me that it's possible to make even a sharp remark and remember one's manners. You also taught me that sometimes one will lose one's temper anyway, and that apologies need not equal loss of face. Thank you.

Dan taught me that the Renaissance is not dead but only sleeping, and that the Web is just a metaphor for the synapses of the human brain, becoming stronger the more connections we make. He also reinforces the value of humor as a parrying and moderating factor, something I knew already but need reminding sometimes.

You also taught me, as I observe your defense of your very strong and focused dream, that the essence of the journey to space is political, even though the problems are mechanical and economic. This is as good a place as any to hammer out the positions, and it may be the only equivalent to the smoke-filled room available to space advocates. The secret is, to form a unified constituency out of these many voices. Compromise, like engineering, is partly an art and partly a skill. Everyone who has this passion must have a piece of the final objective. Pursuasion, inclusion, integration: if the arguments here lead to a unified vision with a flexible agenda, they aren't in vain.

You also reminded me what Sister Rene Marie taught me in seventh grade: that written correspondence has salutations and closings to soften the harshness of the written word.

Regards, Mars Boy ;) --
Mary Anne