CURIOSITY HAS TOUCHED DOWN ON MARS!!!

by Quendi 68 Replies latest social current

• 

  Finkelstein

  You humans are making me very angry, how dare you land your vehicle

  how my planet without asking me first !

  
• 

  cantleave

  Love Dawkin's take on it....

  
• 

  botchtowersociety

  Dawkins poisons everything. He is not great. Where is UK's Mars Rover?

  US Viking 1

  US Viking 2

  US Sojourner

  US Spirit

  US Opportunity

  US Phoenix

  US Curiosity

  But UK Beagle 2 is the dog that didn't bark. It's probably little bits and pieces across the landscape.
• 

  Finkelstein

  Just to take a protagonist viewpoint.

  There is no doubtful question toward this particular landing on Mars of a scientific instrument is a great and fantastic human achievement.

  10 years labor by hundreds of people costing 6 billion dollars is quite a bill to pay particularly for Americans.

  Wouldn't that money and effort been better spent here of earth helping humanity and its inherent problems first ?

  For example millions of people in Africa might never hear of the astounding human achievement but one thing they will know is

  there wont be any food to eat today and they know that their children are slowly dieing of starvation .

  

  Wouldn't it be compassionately prudent to look after the problems here on earth first before spending huge amounts of money on outer space

  exploration ? Just something to think about
• 

  ohiocowboy

  Here you go Finklestein...

  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4091528.stm

  when non-governmental generosity is included, the US moves up the list - not to the top, but way above the bottom.

  Private aid

  Americans will tell you that they are generous but in different ways.

  President Bush is not alone in wanting a role for private charity

  According to Carol Adelman, who was one of the top officials in the American aid effort, the measure used by many in the global community to gauge a country's generosity only counts government foreign aid "and the United States has for many centuries given a lot of private aid overseas".

  She calculates that US businesses give $2.8bn every year; American charities give $6.6bn; the country's colleges give scholarships to foreign students worth $1.3bn.

  And this last way of helping, runs the argument, is particularly effective on the old premise that the best way to cure hunger is not to give food, but to teach people how to grow it.

  It's Dr Adelman's contention, moreover, that this aid is much more effective than government aid which may get skimmed by bureaucrats.

  Open door policy

  On top of that, America does not exhibit the xenophobia evident throughout much of the rest of the developed world.

  America is these communities - people on every street corner who are writing cheques, giving millions and millions of dollars Rev Herb Lusk

  In Europe the door to the poor is locked; in America, it's true the door is guarded but it is open to many more people, particularly from Latin America.

  And this means that huge sums are remitted to poor countries by immigrants to the United States, and this too is effective because it's direct people-to-people aid

  "It's going directly to them to start up businesses, buy medicines, build clinics, build schools, buy food", says Dr Adelman.

  Churches also give generously. It's true that they donate bibles and religious instruction - but also medicines and agricultural advice which have no theology.

  Church aid

  Talk to the Rev Herb Lusk of the Greater Exodus Baptist Church in Philadelphia who has launched a campaign to help Aids victims in Africa, a campaign endorsed by President Bush who called Herb Lusk a "social entrepreneur who can make things happen".

  "You can't look at America and look at what the State Department gives and say that's how much America gives," Rev Lusk told the BBC.

  The US is increasingly engaged in African reform efforts

  "America is these communities - people on every street corner who are writing cheques, who are giving millions and millions of dollars".

  Herb Lusk is not pastor to a people overflowing with money yet they dig deep.

  "My church gives 10% of its income to Africa. The problem is a problem that has to be solved not by governments but by people - people giving to people."

  Americans do not give like other people do.

  They don't assume the government knows best and leave generosity to politicians and officials.

  Speaking of aid to Africa, You may find this article interesting too:

  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/30/AR2006123000941.html
• 

  Finkelstein

  Its quite easy to write a cheque, its something else to effectively see how the money is being used and

  should be used to the betterment of where its needed the most.
• 

  Glander

  Curiosity mission -

  Benefits remain to be seen, other than really cool pictures, etc.

  I think it is important to maintain the NASA brain bank. I still feel that if an equal amount of technology and treasure were spent in deep ocean exploration, the immediate benefits to the human race would be far greater. Maybe the deep is more daunting than outer space?
• 

  CaptainSchmideo

  Best $28 my family ever spent. Worth twice as much.

  Oh, and did you realize your PC, your smart phone, your tv and your appliances are all ancillary results of the space program? Just sayin...
• 

  ohiocowboy

  Its quite easy to write a cheque, its something else to effectively see that how the money is being used and

  should be used to the betterment of where its needed the most.

  Please take the time to read the article and you will find things such as this:

  "It's going directly to them to start up businesses, buy medicines, build clinics, build schools, buy food"

  And:

  "particularly effective on the old premise that the best way to cure hunger is not to give food, but to teach people how to grow it."

  So, not only do we give aid, we try to help use the money correctly so that it gets used to full advantage. It gets to a point that a bit of personal responsibility comes into play though. Teach a man how to fish, etc etc etc
• 

  Finkelstein

  And what if this rover finds nothing more strategically imporatant than the last rover they sent up.

  Houston might have problem

  NASA might also have some explaining to do to the people in Washington DC.