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Opinion
Nature 419, 653 (17 October 2002) | doi:10.1038/419653a
Do we still need astronauts?
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Abstract
Sending people into space for science is questionable and expensive. But a new proposed location for space telescopes, and the inevitable maintenance missions they will require, could provide a boost for the astronaut programme.
When humans first ventured into space in the 1960s, many people saw it as the opening of a new chapter of history, the beginning of a long, inevitable migration upwards and outwards. It hasn't worked out that way.
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