The Swedish Research Council issued this press release today "Sweden plans to colonise space" which to me seems straight out of a sci-fi novel. Don't get me wrong, I want to see a moon base and sooner rather than later. But reading this press release just made me laugh. I respect the work of the Swedes, especially the Smart-1 team which built a great lunar robotic orbiter, but some of the text needs commenting on.
In this paragraph the person who wrote the release makes it sound like Dr. Järvstråt came up with the idea of a moon base and that President Bush was taking credit for the idea. Obviously any historian can tell you that the idea of a moon base was conceived a long time ago and by neither of these men.
Dr. Niklas Järvstråt, a well-reputed material scientist, devised a plan to put a colony on the lunar surface already a decade ago, long before President Bush revealed his grand plans for a moon base.
I have a couple of other issues with the press release. They say the Smart-1 probe will crash in early 2007 when in fact latest estimates put the impact on or around September 1 or 2 of this year.
And while the press releases peppers us with a lot of flowery language, it's short on any plans or financial costs. Colonizing the moon is hardly a new idea or an easy task, and if you're going to push an idea you should at least back it up with something. I wish them the best of luck but give me more details.
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