 What is the main reason that Gubelin is so resentful of Si’s decision?
What's more important—Man's conquest of space, or one spaceman's life? Its quaintness lay in the fact that it was wound, not electronically by power-radio, but by the actual physical movements of the bearer, a free swinging rotor keeping the mainspring at a constant tension. They also had a banquet for him, complete with speeches by such bigwigs of the Department of Space Exploration as Academician Lofting Gubelin and Doctor Hans Girard-Perregaux. In common with recipients of gold watches of a score of generations before him, Si Pond would have preferred something a bit more tangible in the way of reward, such as a few shares of Variable Basic to add to his portfolio. The fact of the matter was, Si knew that his retiring had set them back. They hadn't figured he had enough shares of Basic to see him through decently. It was better to retire on a limited crediting, on a confoundedly limited crediting, than to take the two or three more trips in hopes of attaining a higher standard. There on the long, long haul to the Jupiter satellites, fearfully checking the symptoms of space cafard, the madness compounded of claustrophobia, monotony, boredom and free fall. Time to decide that a one room mini-auto-apartment, complete with an autochair and built-in autobar, and with one wall a teevee screen, was all he needed to find contentment for a mighty long time. Possibly somebody like Doc Girard-Perregaux might be horrified at the idea of living in a mini-auto-apartment ... not realizing that to a pilot it was roomy beyond belief compared to the conning tower of a space craft. Even as Si listened to their speeches, accepted the watch and made a halting little talk of his own, he was grinning inwardly. He had enough Basic to keep him comfortably, by his standards, for the rest of his life. The gold watch idea had been that of Lofting Gubelin, which was typical, he being in the way of a living anachronism himself.
 He fears the end of the Space Exploration program, and for mankind’s research of space to come to an end.
 He doesn’t want to have to go through the effort of training a new spaceman, as it’s very costly and time consuming.  He regrets not having the opportunity of space exploration himself.  He fears the end of the Space Exploration program, and for mankind’s research of space to come to an end.  He hates the Welfare State and how it’s taken away people’s drive to learn and explore.