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LINKING MANKIND TO THE FUTURE

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Our Second Article:

Colonizing Planets and Moons
Thoughts by Gary Yantis

I love space travel, however, being around as long as I have, I see a problem. Lack of will power, politicians who are tied to the trough and are not willing to challenge us and to stay with a program. If we sit around and wait for the government to get us to the Moon or Mars, it’s not going to happen. They will talk a good talk and then just let a program die. After we got to the Moon in 1969-1972 we should have set up a permanent base within three to five years, instead we settled for earth orbit and have stayed there ever since. We can't even get up the courage to fix the Hubble Space Telescope.

Maybe it would be good for Japan and China to start a moon race, maybe our pride will kick in and we will get there again, but will we have the will to stay.

Somehow, private enterprise has to kick in.

Look at history. America sat idle for years until England funded private companies that would invest in America and other countries. What if the government encouraged oil companies and others that have great resources to take those profits and get into new developments such as building for the future in transportation, including private space development.

Let's give those companies options:
-do nothing and be taxed on the profits
-do something and get credits to offset the profits taxes
-do something really special (like private space development) and be granted land grants when they get to the Moon or Mars!

As long as planets and moons are off limits to corporations that would like to own huge tracks of land, nothing will happen. Give the first corporation that gets settlers to another planet or moon and successfully settles that location for two years, without abandoning the location in that time, a land grant for 5,000,000 acres of land spread over several planets and moons, watch the development begin. Note, they have to spread their acreage over several bodies. Not just a single planet or moon.

Any country that successful lands man on a planet or moon and sustains life for two years can claim land in all directions for 1,000 miles. Any corporation that does the same could claim land in all directions for 100 miles. If your country doesn't have the courage or passion to get in the race, let it be left out!

First, we have to learn how to be risk takers again. We can’t play it safe.

The second step would be for our country to unilaterally renounce that part of the Space Treaty that forbids a country or corporation from claiming land when it lands on a foreign body. Note, to actually claim that land the country or corporation has to sustain life in a settlement for two consecutive years. Sending a robot to a moon, planet or asteroid doesn’t count.

Once we have changed that part of the treaty the land grab will be on and you will see Canada, Australia, Europe, Russia, China, Japan, India, South Africa, Israel, Middle Eastern countries and the United States all working competitively or together to settle foreign lands. You will also see private corporations sprouting up to take the big gamble. Let the race begin!

SUPER EYES

I do want to take the time to throw out an idea. Todays date is January 14, 2008. I'm sure this is not a new idea, but here goes. Think about making the eyes into cameras. Create a lens for the eye that would allow us to telescopically see ten times closer or more and at the thought take a photograph with our minds. A chip could be placed in the brain so that we could download the image on photographic paper or onto a computer harddrive.

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