OT: Last Man on the Moon Looks to Mars

[Commander Taggart]

A little story I wrote yesterday... some here might be interested.

http://employees.faa.gov/news/focusfaa/story/index.cfm?newsId=54390

[Wild Boar]

Nice story. It's interesting to see how the old Apollo astronauts are so enthusiastic about the future of the space program.

While certain aspects of the Shuttle program were intriguing, the end result was that we were trapped in near-Earth orbit with a reusable system that became very expensive to operate.

I'm very enthusiastic about the next steps with the Constellation program. I just hope the engineers and scientists can come up with a good solution to shield the astronauts from radiation on the longer trips.

[Squonk63]

Until we resolve our problems on Earth, we have no business investing precious resources and treasure on manned space exploration.

A simple majority of humanity shares that sentiment. I have no general idea how my fellow countrymen feels about the topic, but I would cynically fathom that the consensus probably echoes the same viewpoint.

Obviously, I am very strongly in the minority. JFK is probably spinning in his grave over the lack of imagination and tenacity of the nation he once inspired.

[Commander Taggart]

The end of time will come before we "solve our problems here on Earth."

I don't believe I've ever heard a more narrow-minded, self-defeating attitude expressed.

If we're unwilling to explore the final frontier, then I think we really are done as a species.

As far as sending men to Mars goes, I say bring it on. I don't care whether robots can do it more cheaply, we're men, dammit, and we need to push our own boundaries.

America needs to be the nation of innovators and innovations that it claims to be, and we need to take the lead on this historic venture.

Dear God, I would like to see it in my lifetime.

[Wild Boar]

The end of time will come before we "solve our problems here on Earth."

I don't believe I've ever heard a more narrow-minded, self-defeating attitude expressed.

If we're unwilling to explore the final frontier, then I think we really are done as a species.

As far as sending men to Mars goes, I say bring it on. I don't care whether robots can do it more cheaply, we're men, dammit, and we need to push our own boundaries.

America needs to be the nation of innovators and innovations that it claims to be, and we need to take the lead on this historic venture.

Dear God, I would like to see it in my lifetime.

It may shock people that I'm in complete agreement with CT.

Taking on new challenges forces growth in a variety of areas and that growth is what benefits mankind.

CT's statement of the fact that the universe will end before we solve humanity's problems was an eloquent way of expressing that the human condition is flawed and subject to many forms of corruption. We're also equally capable of great deeds. I don't want the former to deter the latter.

[Impreszive]

The end of time will come before we "solve our problems here on Earth."

I don't believe I've ever heard a more narrow-minded, self-defeating attitude expressed.

If we're unwilling to explore the final frontier, then I think we really are done as a species.

As far as sending men to Mars goes, I say bring it on. I don't care whether robots can do it more cheaply, we're men, dammit, and we need to push our own boundaries.

America needs to be the nation of innovators and innovations that it claims to be, and we need to take the lead on this historic venture.

Dear God, I would like to see it in my lifetime.


We need to stop fearing death and the unknown. I look at people today and wonder how we got to the age of colonisation.

[Sept17th1978eightPM]

The end of time will come before we "solve our problems here on Earth."

I don't believe I've ever heard a more narrow-minded, self-defeating attitude expressed.

If we're unwilling to explore the final frontier, then I think we really are done as a species.

As far as sending men to Mars goes, I say bring it on. I don't care whether robots can do it more cheaply, we're men, dammit, and we need to push our own boundaries.

America needs to be the nation of innovators and innovations that it claims to be, and we need to take the lead on this historic venture.

Dear God, I would like to see it in my lifetime.

I agree 100% and we'll do it I believe.

[Squonk63]

CT nailed it, as always.

At the risk of being given a time out by the Imperious Leader (http://www.cylon.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=11478), I would remind my fellow Alliance members that at the most recent GOP debate which took place this week, there was a great uproar over the question of funding a Mars Mission within the next few years.

Witness the following from the CNN transcript (http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/11/28/debate.transcript.part2/index.html):


Cooper: I want to get as many of the YouTube questions in as possible.

Let's get another one here from another viewer.

Steve Nielson: My name is Steve Nielson. And this question comes to you from Denver, Colorado.

JFK's vision put a man on the moon from a nonexistent space program in about seven years. The new vision for space exploration has provided about 15 years for that same feat.

Meanwhile, Congress is pulling funding for human-to-Mars research altogether.

Is there a candidate amongst you willing to take a pledge on behalf of the Mars Society of sending an American to the surface of Mars by 2020? If not, what is your vision for human space exploration?

Cooper: Governor Huckabee?

NASA pumps some -- let's see, how many -- $5 billion into Florida's economy.

Huckabee: Whether we ought to go to Mars is not a decision that I would want to make, but I would certainly want to make sure that we expand the space program, because every one of us who are sitting here tonight have our lives dramatically improved because there was a space program -- whether it's these screens that we see or the incredible electronics that we use, including the GPS systems that got many of you to this arena tonight.

(Laughter)

Some of you were late because you didn't have one, by the way. Or whether it's the medical technologies that saved many of our lives or the lives or our families, it's the direct result of the space program, and we need to put more money into science and technology and exploration.

Now, whether we need to send somebody to Mars, I don't know. But I'll tell you what: If we do, I've got a few suggestions, and maybe Hillary could be on the first rocket to Mars.

(Laughter)

Cooper: Congressman Tancredo, 30 seconds, please.

Tancredo: The question is a serious one and it deserves a serious answer, and that is this: Look, we've been -- how many times up here, how many questions have dealt with the issue of deficit spending, the debt out of control? And yet, we have somebody saying, "But would you spend more money on going to Mars?"

And the suggestion that we need to spend more money on space exploration. This is it, folks. That's why we have such incredible problems with our debt, because everybody's trying to be everything to all people.

We can't afford some things, and by the way, going to Mars is one of them.

It is no better on the other side where candidates (such as former California Governor Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown) are often derided and mocked for showing enthusiasm for manned space flight. Nobody has the guts to openly support government funded treks to the stars, even though China, Russia, India, Japan, and other nations of the world are racing to cash in on the upcoming space race.

Many current members in Congress want to slash NASA's budget for less expensive and less imaginative unmanned ventures, while others even refuse to bring up the subject in the first place.

THAT is what fuels my cynicism. If I thought for a micron that there was a ghost of a chance that I could be a part of the first human colony on either the moon or Mars, I'd volunteer in a heart beat for whatever training and sacrifice was necessary.

I don't know if man will leave bootprints on Mars within my lifetime. But if we don't set such lofty priorities soon, I can't imagine our species being around to ponder such things a century from now.

[Tribe13]

Until we resolve our problems on Earth, we have no business investing precious resources and treasure on manned space exploration.

A simple majority of humanity shares that sentiment. I have no general idea how my fellow countrymen feels about the topic, but I would cynically fathom that the consensus probably echoes the same viewpoint.

Obviously, I am very strongly in the minority. JFK is probably spinning in his grave over the lack of imagination and tenacity of the nation he once inspired.If we wait until we solve our problems on Earth, we will never get anywhere. There will ALWAYS be problems here. To say we can't go up there until we have utopia down here is very unrealistic.

[Sept17th1978eightPM]

Tancredo has a valid point but I agree with Huckabee, the point is we need a new model. Get private corperations taking a bigger chunck of the risk=money with the govt. doing its part. We'd be halfway to all those sci-fi films with the evil corperations as the bad guys! :D