From Tim Gillin
Francis Slakey is right to take NASA to task for using human-interest PR
stunts, such as John Glenn’s “heroic” return to space, to sell space exploration
(Forum, 16 January, p 48).
In terms of payoff and cost, robot probes beat humans hands down. But how can
NASA wrangle dollars without a “human face”?
Maybe they should call Hollywood. Star Trek’s Data and Star
Wars’ R2D2 and C3P0 are all big money-spinners. If the Mars Sojourner had
made cute whistles and clicks, NASA’s robot budget would by now have reached the
stars.
Sydney, Australia
