MARS or BUST

I agree with tbakowsky. The Oceans are treated like "so what?" It's mind-boggling, just how much undiscovered, yet actual life and resources are right here floating around Earth - yet to be tapped - to the benefit of all.

If they're going to do space exploration, we've got satellites sending wunderbar images, right? Have one of our fantastic voyagers do a fly-by around one of our neighboring planets (like Mars, yay!) snap Kodak moments 'til the cow that jumped over the moon comes home, but this time, (since they can't be arsed to put a decent landing system/backup plan on one of the wee robots - Conspiracy, anyone?) put big coke-tootin' straws and nostrils on that sucker. Then, with a biga$$ robot-arm, have it plug one of the space-nostrils and snort a few bumps - Say "hasta la vista, Mars" and head on back to Earthville with the disco(vered) dust.

 

No a-problem. I'll abuilda di carsa fora di Marsa.

 

i totally agree with that, but that doesn't change the fact that many school districts DO have a shortage of funds... That there are still homeless people; still poverty-stricken people; starving people... Let's not pretend it doesn't exist...

i'll say it again, i have absolutely no problem with exploring space, as long as we do it respectfully; but there's no way that space exploration is more important than some of the issues going on here...

NASA & the federal government will never properly educate the public (on just about anything for that matter) but that has no bearing on the subject. Is it worth one human life to safe a million others that haven't even been born yet...? What if that life is yours...?

 

Also a good read is Robert Mitchums (sp?) book "Space"

 

Maybe GW nees to get someone on the moon to put the flags, cars, landing craft in place (that are in a lot somewhere near universal studios) prior to the chinese landing there. Ok ok ok , only joking...

 

Also a big Bova fan, and he has some greats no question. Thanks the for tip on Mining the Sky. I'm hunting it up right now.

Mark

 

The peoplewho sacrifice their lives to help others are called Heros. Millions of people who died in WW2 & other wars believed in thier counrty enough to sacrifice their lives. If I knew I could permanently establish space mining & resource exploitation for the future of humanity then that would definately be a worthwhile pursuit even if it involved a lot of personal risk

 

How can otherwise seemingly intelligent people think we didn't go to the moon? I don't understand the obstinate refusal to see the facts.

Mark

 

Why are there people who think OJ is innocent? Ironically, there was a movie called "Capricorn One" in which they portrayed the moon landing as a ruse. OJ played one of the astronauts.

Go Figure!

DL

 

Remember William, no one wants self-reliance and freedom any more.. Big Brother will take care of us, and I'll be safe riding in my auto-controlled mobile marshmallow.

Mark

 

I am 100% for a moon/mars mission.

-Bush is now proposing an increase of 1B$, ramped up
over 5 years... really a pittance, seen in the big
scheme of things. what is needed here is (at least)
100 times that amount, for an aggressive pursuit a la
JFK's "man on the moon" initiative.

-when I was a kid (a long time ago...) I followed the
Apollo missions and I expected to see at least moon bases
and interplanetary missions by 2000 (as in "2001: Space Odyssey").
Now all we have is a bunch of aging space shuttles and
an excuse for a space station. Who else feels that this
is inadequate and a disappointment. Chances are that
in my lifetime i will not see a man step foot on Mars.

-Here is a very provocative point. If a Mars mission
were to be designed from the outset as a one-way
trip, it would be an order of magnitude cheaper.
What do you think, how many qualified people would
volunteer to go knowing they could not come back?
I am sure that there would be quite a few people.

 

i'm not talking about people who risked their lives in wars or people who died trying to help other people... i'm talking about thousands of people who had no idea they were gonna die... Who woke up one morning, went to work and died. End of story. i'm talking about thousands of uneducated, hungry, freezing, under-dressed children, whose parents are competent...

...despite what size their school bus is, racerx.


Shmark, self-reliance and freedom are slowly being taken away by Big Brother... i don't want Big Brother telling me what to do, i'd prefer to do it, myself... i've faired very well on my own, thank you; i certainly don't need Big Brother interfering... That has nothing to do with this.

 

This sounds like a smartass comment, but it's really not... anyway, how exactly are we supposed to get the resources from the moon/mars/asteroids back to Earth? I think the cost of getting the stuff would far outweigh any economic benefits. Our spacecraft are of limited size and capacity... It's not like we can load up 50 traincars and drag the stuff back. I think the first order of business is to develop a low cost reusable transportation system before we even start thinking about permanent bases and mining. I'm all for it mind you, just would be interested in hearing everyone's thoughts on how we'd actually go about doing it...

-R

 

Let's say they've got SpaceBullDozers harvesting some Mars-Coal, then what? Even spread out over centuries, that's some expensive kryptonite.

 

come on, people!

-The idea is not to haul stuff from mars back to earth,
but to establish a presence on Mars and get used to the
concept of long distance space travel, plus have the ability
to explore really interesting locations on mars (bottom of canyons,
permafrost etc.) where robots currently cannot go.

-space exploration cannot and should not wait
until the last problem on earth is solved and
the last hungry child is fed. besides, as i said earlier,
the amount of money we're talking about pales in
comparison with e.g. the defense budget....
not invading iraq would have almost bought a nice
mars spaceship!!!

 

And while we are at it, why don't we just give Joe a ferrari????

DES, there will always be poor and homeless. Others will go out a get jobs and do something with their lives. My parents were immigrants. Came here with the clothes on their backs, and nothing else. They got jobs, and made it on their own. Do you know why my dad left his home in Italy? Because there was no opporunity to work. So he hid out on a boat and came over. Joe has those exact same opportunities. Infact, if Joe speaks english, he probably has more opportunities open to him. Maybe Joe should try to get a job?

You know, this space talk is sort of like making a decision to have a baby. There is never a good time to have one. You can always have more money, or a bigger house, etc., etc. But, sometimes, you just do it.

We, as a species, need space exploration. Let's just do it.

Dom

 

NNO, I like you. Someday I hope to meet the man of 10,000 posts and shake his hand while we both go berserk over the Enzo next to us! Your heart is in the right place but you're being naive (and cynical). We have to expand or die -- knowledge, technology, real estate, this planet, and on and on. If we stopped to hold everyone's hand we would quickly lose the ability to help them at all.

No, I don't think the government is the best choice to spend that money, not by a long shot. Private enterprise will get it done faster, cheaper and more efficiently. But that will take time. Have you seen the X-Prize? Check out what Scaled Composites is working on. We're on the verge of something wonderful and the government will fall behind soon.

And the homeless guy? He can take advantage of the many shelters (I've worked in them), sober up, clean up, shave and get some clean clothes. Then he can get a job. You pound pavement until you get something, don't sit around, drink and complain that no one will help you.

Self-reliance. Independence. Taking responsibility for yourself and your family. These are the things we're losing today, and THAT'S what makes me sad.

Mark

 

Ok, maybe Joe the homeless guy was a bad example... Although he IS out there right now, freezing his ass off...
Anyway, there are other people in this country (not to mention the rest of the world) who ARE being held back for one reason or another... People starving, yadda yadda yadda, you know my schpeel... Can you sleep at night forgetting 1 or 100 so you can help 1,000 or 1,000,000 in the future...? That's my point...?
When we're both standing there going berserk next to the Enzo, maybe Joe the homeless guy will let us have a ride since we didn't forget about him when the rest of the world was abandoning him for vague space exploration...


Dom, no, i don't think we should give Homeless Joe a Ferrari, but you understood my point, i'm sure, as i understand yours... Probing the bowels of space isn't a bad idea by any means, but let's not use our biggest money finger to dig around in there...


Racerx, Homeless Joe isn't crazy... i used to know a lot of homeless people who weren't crazy... In fact, i know people now who used to be homeless and they're not crazy, either (nor were they when they WERE homeless)... Labeling them as write-offs 'cause they're homeless or crazy or both just shows caste system tendencies and that's not cool, either...

 

NNO, so your plan is to feed & house an ever increasing Earth population of 6 Billion that will be 10 billion soon on the same resources of 1 planet that is already starting to strain. Cant you understand that at some point we will totally deplete the Earth's resources & then Earth civilization will turn cannibal & turn into a Mad Max nightmare. Thats not the Earth I want to live on. If our pop keeps increasing & our consumption will also increase then we HAVE to find more resources for EVERYONE to use. The only place to find more resources is off the Erath, The solar system has at least 1 Million x more natural resources than the Earth. Its possible that in the entire histroy of humanity we may never deplete the resources of the solar system. So knowing that there is a VAST untapped mine of raw natural resources to help all of humanity dont you think its foolish to continue strip mining our own Home ? Why dont we give our home a rest & mine other planets then we can feed & house a human pop of 30 billion + without worrying about where we will find the resources or energy. Doesnt that sound more intelligent than depleting all the resources on Earth & turning the enitre earth into Easter Island ?