The Promise of Space

Joel Greenberg, in his May 19 review of the PBS special “Voyage to the Milky Way” (“ ‘Milky Way’ Explores Space, and Spacey Dreams”), got it partially right. There are a lot of spacey people hyping space. He got it wrong saying I intend to “strip-mine . . . celestial objects.”

I founded SpaceDev to make profits gathering new scientific data at a fraction of current costs. I am not interested in strip-mining anything and have strong environmental credentials. I never hesitate to speak out on current and future space pollution issues.

Near-Earth asteroids are potentially enormously dangerous and valuable to all of humanity because we could be whacked by one and because of their almost infinite amount of natural resources. We must learn more about them, how to live with them and how to use them to increase the standard of living through their proper utilization.

We live in California because pioneers and entrepreneurs risked their lives and fortunes to make it to California. They mined gold and pumped oil. They formed settlements and created jobs. Space is an infinite frontier, and the pioneering spirit lives on in many of us.

JIM BENSON

Chairman, CEO

SpaceDev

San Diego