VivaLebowski Posted August 6, 2012 Report Share Posted August 6, 2012 Seeing the curiosity rover land was very cool...but it just made me think, back in the 60's, NASA was able to get a man on the moon starting from scratch. We already have the technology (Nuclear engines) to fly to mars in about two weeks, if we just had the balls and the will power to do it. Rather it was America, China, or countries working togethor. SO WHY THE HELL HAVENT WE? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azaxx Posted August 6, 2012 Report Share Posted August 6, 2012 I personally would love to see Humans reach the Epsilon Eridani System. aKa, the system with Reach, Tribute an Tantalus. Along with a known planet Epsilon Eridani b Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VivaLebowski Posted August 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2012 I personally would love to see Humans reach the Epsilon Eridani System. aKa, the system with Reach, Tribute an Tantalus. Along with a known planet Epsilon Eridani b And then we get there and Master Chief is waiting for us and hes like "Your late" and we're like Inceptioned. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Director Posted August 6, 2012 Report Share Posted August 6, 2012 Well, it is a bit more complicated than that. Firstly, we have to be assured that we can sustain life (impossible to do without any sources of water) for an extended period of time, which is what the rover is for. I agree that NASA needs more funding though. Furthermore, I think Carthage should be destroyed. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skummgummigubbe Posted August 6, 2012 Report Share Posted August 6, 2012 my thought is that they faked the moon landing in 60's and when did they announce they will make any tripp to mars i have heard nothing, got surprised when reading it on twitter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Biggles Posted August 6, 2012 Report Share Posted August 6, 2012 Seeing the curiosity rover land was very cool...but it just made me think, back in the 60's, NASA was able to get a man on the moon starting from scratch. We already have the technology (Nuclear engines) to fly to mars in about two weeks, if we just had the balls and the will power to do it. Rather it was America, China, or countries working togethor. SO WHY THE HELL HAVENT WE? I also don't believe America and China have a strong enough alliance for stuff like that to happen. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThERavinGPixiE Posted August 6, 2012 Report Share Posted August 6, 2012 Personally, I think the moon landing was an amazing feat by us wee humans especially with the level of technology back then. As for why we haven't done it again or sent anyone else to another planet yet, I think it's a lack of money and interest right now. Give it another 50 years or so, when the human population on Earth has increased even more and our natural resources get sucked down to dangerous levels... then things will start to happen because it's either spread out into the universe or start cracking down on human population limits, resource usage, etc. I will say that watching Curiosity land was quite the thing this evening, I found myself grinning like a fool when it touched down through Mars' atmosphere. One thing I am extremely curious about.... terraforming. I think it can be done and that Mars is gonna be the best bet towards a successful attempt at it. Venus has too many gases in it's atmosphere, the main thing being sulfuric acid and that makes it nearly impossible to alter it's atmosphere without investing too much into it. my thought is that they faked the moon landing in 60's and when did they announce they will make any tripp to mars i have heard nothing, got surprised when reading it on twitter They launched Curiosity in November 2011. August 5th 2012 was the landing date for it to hit Mars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victory Element Posted August 6, 2012 Report Share Posted August 6, 2012 we definately have the tech, but there is no way the Us and China, etc. will ever unite to do this. Everyone is concerned about making money it would cost a crapload to do a big mission like this. The US is in a ton of debt with china and the US economy is getting worse. so dont plan on anything like this happening soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VivaLebowski Posted August 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2012 I wasn't thinking neccasarily that China and the US would work togethor, more the US, Europe and Russia, seeing as how we already are working togethor. If anything, the Chinese would compete with us and help us that way, beacuse our space program is really suffering from a lack of competition. What we really need is a new cold war or world war three to get the job done, haha. One thing I am extremely curious about.... terraforming. I think it can be done and that Mars is gonna be the best bet towards a successful attempt at it. Venus has too many gases in it's atmosphere, the main thing being sulfuric acid and that makes it nearly impossible to alter it's atmosphere without investing too much into it. Theres plenty of water on mars so we could probably plant small colonies on the planet and start colonizing while we were terraforming. I haven't heard of any method of terraforming which sounds efficacious yet though. Scientists will often talk about pumping greenhouse gases into the Martian atmosphere, but in order to achieve anything more than a few degrees warming you'd need astronimical amounts of carbon/methane etc...the real problem isn't that mars is too cold and dry...it gets up to the sixties in the summer and theres huge amounts of water locked up in the poles. The problem for terraforming is that Mars simply has a very tenuous atmosphere. For extending Human habitation in a big way, we would probably be best off looking for earth like planets which are more towards the center of the habitable zones in nearby star systems than terraforming Mars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
INACTIVE Posted August 7, 2012 Report Share Posted August 7, 2012 "Seeing the curiosity rover land was very cool...but it just made me think, back in the 60's, NASA was able to get a man on the moon starting from scratch. We already have the technology (Nuclear engines) to fly to mars in about two weeks, if we just had the balls and the will power to do it. Rather it was America, China, or countries working togethor. SO WHY THE HELL HAVENT WE?" - VivaLebowski "...Everyone is concerned about making money it would cost a crapload to do a big mission like this..." - Victory Element The thing is, if all the major powers in the world were to unite, there wouldn't be a need for making money. The incentive behind working together would be to further the advancement of their nation to a better standard of living. If people could just get over boundies and selfish desires we, as a species, could have no limits. Colonies across the universe, potential contact with other intelligent life, new resources, and so much more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VivaLebowski Posted August 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2012 The thing is, if all the major powers in the world were to unite, there wouldn't be a need for making money. The incentive behind working together would be to further the advancement of their nation to a better standard of living. If people could just get over boundies and selfish desires we, as a species, could have no limits. Colonies across the universe, potential contact with other intelligent life, new resources, and so much more. Haha, keep dreaming. What drives innovation is competition. Its human nature and we aren't going to get over it any time soon. The thing which will drive the next big space boom is going to be world war three. The real engine of technological progress is war, or the threat of it. The internet, Satellite communications (and thus cell phones), Space exploration, Computers, etc. etc. These technologies were pioneered either beacuse of the Cold War or World War Two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZB-85 Posted August 7, 2012 Report Share Posted August 7, 2012 I would love to see the human race travel to distant planets and solar systems. It would be an amazing feat like that of landing on the moon. But, it does stink that the US canceled all space programs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dog Posted August 7, 2012 Report Share Posted August 7, 2012 Company's around the world are trying to explore space Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
INACTIVE Posted August 7, 2012 Report Share Posted August 7, 2012 War is, unfortunatly, a good jumpstarter for innovation, but, an even better one is the need for natural resources. Many people think that the depletion of our natural resources will lead to an economic colapse, but, in order to create a better building the original has to be demolished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VivaLebowski Posted August 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2012 Thats a good point...all that said, people don't think in the long term. Short term, there are little benefits to be had in space exploration in terms of resources. Theres no Oil, Food, or Water in space and those are the three resources which are particularly needed. The technological innovation you describe will be better agricultural practices, alternative propulsion engines, desalinization technology for water, that kind of thing. And those don't involve space. We aren't going to go to Mars and terraform it, a process that would take thousands of years at least, beacuse we are hungry NOW. But, War and competition between nations has the far better chance of sparking greater space exploration A) Beacuse whoever militarizes space has a big advantage and The early types of manned exploration that don't neccasarily yield huge amounts of resources comes from Nations looking to one up eachother. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThERavinGPixiE Posted August 7, 2012 Report Share Posted August 7, 2012 The thing is, if all the major powers in the world were to unite, there wouldn't be a need for making money. The incentive behind working together would be to further the advancement of their nation to a better standard of living. If people could just get over boundies and selfish desires we, as a species, could have no limits. Colonies across the universe, potential contact with other intelligent life, new resources, and so much more. I agree with you on the uniting thing. You ever notice how in movies with space travel and what not, Earth is one united population? Take The Fifth Element for starters... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazmarr Posted August 7, 2012 Report Share Posted August 7, 2012 Personally, I think the moon landing was an amazing feat by us wee humans especially with the level of technology back then. As for why we haven't done it again or sent anyone else to another planet yet, I think it's a lack of money and interest right now. Another reasons we haven't gone back to the moon is because there isn't any real need to go back. Scientists are busy looking for other 'earth similar' planets in closer galaxies that have a stable sun and that can support life. So when our sun dies, we will have had enough time to prepare and send the first colonising humans to 'earth similar' planet, and the human race can continue. It's late, when I typed this, so it may not make sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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