by tootired2care 74 Replies latest social current
I think its a good idea but I'm not terribly optimistic until its getting a lot closer.
For reference... look at the dozens and dozens of missions to Mars planned in the past, all of which have fallen thourgh.
If our fragile economy takes one little misstep this project gets shelved.
I think space exploration is a necessity for future survival of the human race. The hope that there is another planet somewhere in the universe that could sustain life is exciting.
The thought of what will happen to our decendents on earth in the centuries to come if we don't.....not so exciting. (unless we want to go down the road of population control...now thats scary)
I think space exploration is a necessity for future survival of the human race. The hope that there is another planet somewhere in the universe that could sustain life is exciting.
Don't worry too much. The human race went from living in caves to walking on the moon in about 20,000 years. They went from believing the earth was flat to nanotechnology and genetic experimentation in about 500 years.
I don't believe escaping the solar system in the next 2-3 billion years is going to pose much of a problem (if it comes to that).
2-3 billion years? What will earths population be by then? Of course we could all be wiped out by a flood... taking us back to a handful who could build an ark...or something similar. Actually, they could probably just use a cruise ship...LOL
Yep, leave this planet a desolate wasteland and do the same to Mars, then look for another planet to screw up.
We need to fix this one up before we have the right to inhabit any others.
I think it's great, but I've been disappointed before - as have others - many of which used to work for NASA.
My thoughts go along the line of... why don't we put something on the Moon first, before we go off into the wild blue yander, and try to land on Mars. Let's get a few of the issues ironed out first. Practice on an object close-by... like... say... the MOON??
NASA - or whomever doesn't seem to plan very well IMO, take a look at the ISS (International Space Station). It's just another glorified SkyLab. Not too long from now, it'll be used-up, and they'll have to let its' orbit decay, and it'll come crashing back to earth... just like SkyLab.
Personally, I know it sounds kooky, but I think that this has a better chance of succeeding. A Dutch company wants to make a reality show out of going to Mars... by 2023 - which beats NASA there by about 10 years.
http://www.space.com/16300-mars-one-reality-show-colony.html
The down side? It's a one-way trip. No coming home for the contestants. No 'voting off of Mars'.
Good Luck to NASA, but I have my doubts their plans will materialize.
Regards,
Jim TX
Cedars, still thinking – I could not agree more with those sentiments.
yadda yadda 2 – I have to respectfully disagree. The pursuit of technology has bettered the lives of billions. Have you ever studied the account of the Luddite revolution? In their short sighted thinking, they thought they were saving jobs, when in fact in the long run, whole new fields with even more jobs were opened up because of the technology breakthroughs of that time that they were fighting. I don't think it's any different with the space program. People starving is not a question of money and resources it's a question of divisive religion (E.G. Radical Islam), and backwards and corrupt politicians and governments.
Jim – I didn't know about that; very interesting. This got me thinking...If you had the opportunity to be a memeber of the first wave of colonists to another planet would you go for it? I think I would.
Very exciting. Heard the JPL scientist this morning discuss the heart attack 7 minutes for the landing. Got to see Curiosity myself at JPL last year. Seriously exciting...all of it. The technology and science behind it all is mindboggling. Go Curiosity!!!
Here's a good argument to practice colonizing:
http://www.ted.com/talks/stephen_petranek_counts_down_to_armageddon.html
I echo Jim-TX's concerns about joint ventures, even though Canada would benefit by participating. The International Space Station is an object lesson in death by committee.
A huge waste of money. tens of millions of children are malnourished and living in abject poverty but the US et al wastes 100's of millions of dollars on fantastical boondoggles that don't help a soul. Shameful.
very short sighted statement. The advancements in food preservation alone for the Mars trip could keep millions of people from starving one day. NASA is preparing shelf stable food rations that can last up to years or more unrefrigerated and taste delicious and be nutritional.... even meat has been kept and eaten after 8 years on a shelf at room temperature.
It is these huge undertakings that propell technology to levels unnatainable through market based companies.
Trillions on military spending, billions on drugs, billions on pornography, take money from these and feed the hungry. Don't limit the progress of space travel.
besides,,,,, it won't cost hundred's of millions, this will cost hundred's of BILLIONS of dollars. Every lbs of food alone costs $1,000,000 to send to Mars and it is estimated they will need 22,000 lbs of food to last the trip (which could take 2.5-3 years).
Even today it costs over $60k to send 1 litre of water to the moon
