The government is mooning you

[Thesemindz]

Why are we wasting time going to the moon and mars? Haven't we already done that? I just heard on the news that the House has approved a bill which oks NASA for missions which will "take us to the moon by the year 2020." 2020? Why is it going to take so long? Haven't we been there before? Like, oh almost forty years ago?!?! This doesn't make any sense. Shouldn't we be heading to the sun, or another galaxy, or anything interesting by now? I mean come on! Unless they plan to start colonizing the moon in the year 2020 I feel like we are all getting the shaft. And you know what, this is probably gonna cost about 300 billion dollars (I made that number up). Why are we wasting all this money to go somewhere boring we've already been? You won't see me wasting my paycheck on a trip to "Mission Impossible 2." You know why? Because I've seen it and it sucked. Why would I want to see it again? Unless they changed the whole experience, it would only be a waste of time and money. If all we're going to do is walk in the dust and plant a flag than I feel like once again, in the grand tradition of our government, we're all getting the shaft. Thank you short sighted politicians for screwing us all over and distracting us from the plethora of real issues which plague us every day, not to mention wasting a bunch of our money. Don't misunderstand me, I'm all for space exploration. I think we should colonize the stars, and someday we probably will. Hundreds of thousands of years from now, descendants of my students will be doing Kenpo in Alpha Centauri, but in the meantime we're going to the moon. Yee-ha. Couldn't we at least go to someone else's moon? At least there we might find hot green skinned chicks.


-Rob

 

[Rich Parsons]

Why are we wasting time going to the moon and mars? Haven't we already done that? I just heard on the news that the House has approved a bill which oks NASA for missions which will "take us to the moon by the year 2020." 2020? Why is it going to take so long? Haven't we been there before? Like, oh almost forty years ago?!?! This doesn't make any sense. Shouldn't we be heading to the sun, or another galaxy, or anything interesting by now? I mean come on! Unless they plan to start colonizing the moon in the year 2020 I feel like we are all getting the shaft. And you know what, this is probably gonna cost about 300 billion dollars (I made that number up). Why are we wasting all this money to go somewhere boring we've already been? You won't see me wasting my paycheck on a trip to "Mission Impossible 2." You know why? Because I've seen it and it sucked. Why would I want to see it again? Unless they changed the whole experience, it would only be a waste of time and money. If all we're going to do is walk in the dust and plant a flag than I feel like once again, in the grand tradition of our government, we're all getting the shaft. Thank you short sighted politicians for screwing us all over and distracting us from the plethora of real issues which plague us every day, not to mention wasting a bunch of our money. Don't misunderstand me, I'm all for space exploration. I think we should colonize the stars, and someday we probably will. Hundreds of thousands of years from now, descendants of my students will be doing Kenpo in Alpha Centauri, but in the meantime we're going to the moon. Yee-ha. Couldn't we at least go to someone else's moon? At least there we might find hot green skinned chicks.


-Rob

Sun - Too much radiation nothing can survive even probes to give us data.

Other Galaxies - No technology for FTL or Faster Than Light.

As to the Moon and Mars - Read the Nasa Tech Briefs for what this will really mean to your standard of living.

 

[Thesemindz]

Sun - Too much radiation nothing can survive even probes to give us data.

Other Galaxies - No technology for FTL or Faster Than Light.

As to the Moon and Mars - Read the Nasa Tech Briefs for what this will really mean to your standard of living.

I realize that we can't yet go to the sun or another galaxy, I was speaking in hyperbole. Do you have a link to those NASA tech briefs? I still think we should do something interesting.


-Rob

 

[Tgace]

Why didnt folks stop coming to North America after Columbus found it? I mean he already found it once.

 

[Thesemindz]

Why didnt folks stop coming to North America after Columbus found it? I mean he already found it once.

You know, you make an excellent point, and one I hadn't considered. After all, we have yet to take advantage of the great bounty of trees, fresh water, fish fowl and wild game, not to mention the untapped resources of prescious metals on the moon.

Look, obviously I'm being silly. My point is not that we shouldn't ever go to the moon again. I think we should. I think we should colonize the moon. I think there probably are things on the moon which could be mined for use, such as heavy rocks and prescious metals. I think mars and the moon may hold keys to understanding the presence of life here on earth. I am sure there are tons of great reasons to return to the moon. Of course, no one has yet presented any. And last time we went we didn't actually do much, or go back again for another forty years. I hope this time we try to accomplish something greater than ego gratification.

That still doesn't change the fact that we aren't doing anything new. They say that the moons of other worlds could hold real bounties of fantastic sights and useful discoveries. Yet we return to a dusty lifeless rock. I have no doubt that someday people will live beyond this world and this may very well be a step in that process. Does anyone know why they want to go to the moon and mars? Do they have a long term objective of which this is only the first step? Will they look towards developing sustainable habitation on these planets? Are they looking to experiment with or on something? Do they have reason to believe that this trip will better all mankind? Or are we just planting another flag?

The first time it really was a giant leap for mankind. Is it still?


-Rob

 

[Marginal]

I was under the impression that the whole point of going to the moon was to establish a base from which further exploration of the solar system would be easier.

 

[sgtmac_46]

I was under the impression that the whole point of going to the moon was to establish a base from which further exploration of the solar system would be easier.

Yeah, that's pretty much the plan.

 

[arnisador]

Don't underestimate what a motivation this is for students to go into science and engineering. I teach at an engineering college and working on the space shuttle is everyone's dream job, it often seems. This stuff gets attention.

I'm all for going to Mars. Let's do it!

 

[Makalakumu]

I teach high school physics and this kind of thing really gets students pumped about science. A revitalization of the space program is exactly what this country needs in order to reverse the negative trends in math and science.

 

[Tgace]

The sheer logistics of sending people to say a jupiter moon are ENORMOUS. We barely streamlined the lunar landing process, let alone perfected it. And even though we did it back in the 60-70's I doubt we could do it now. If we are serious about going to Mars or further, we are going to have to hone our craft on the Moon first IMO.

 

[arnisador]

Maybe. But, that's a matter of tactics! The question as to whether to try at all is the one before us, no?

 

[Tgace]

Eventually its going to be a necessity for mankind if we survive long enough. Have to start somewhere dont we? Would we rather the Chinese take the lead?

If the money given to Columbus was refused to fund social programs.....

 

[Thesemindz]

I agree that going to space is the thing to do. And if this is to establish a base, or to hone our moon landing techniques, or as a jumping off point for further exploration, or for any good reason, than I'm all for it. My problem is that this seems like it is just to distract the public with thoughts of space and make ourselves feel better about being the country that keeps going to the moon. If it's just for grins, it's a waste. Columbus didn't raise money to go back to America because he wanted to boldly go where no man had gone before. That wasn't even his intention the first time. He was looking for a shorter trade route to India, so I hardly see how the repeated attempts at comparing this to that are even relevant. I never said divert the moon money to welfare. I said have a plan, take consistent action, and accomplish something worthwhile. I'd even agree that encouraging future generations of engineers is a good thing, although I'm not sure it's a good enough reason to spend millions or billions of dollars on a jaunt to the moon.


-Rob

 

[Tgace]

Well..I think NASA needs some sort of boot in the ***. Years worth of circling the planet and sending probes isnt exactly "trailblazing". The moon would be a good first step to serious space "pioneering". As to the "we have problems on earth" response, we alway have and always will have those problems. Its a lame excuse for not exploring new frontiers. A human endeavor that increases knowledge, stimulates economies with new advances and technologies etc. Its a human race "stimulant" like war in that respect, but with purer roots and at least the "possibility" of international co-operation vs. destruction.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/space/1283041.html

 

[Phoenix44]

I think we'd all have a lot more fun in New Orleans.

 

[KenpoEMT]

You won't see me wasting my paycheck on a trip to "Mission Impossible 2." You know why? Because I've seen it and it sucked. Why would I want to see it again? Unless they changed the whole experience, it would only be a waste of time and money.

:-offtopic Couldn't agree more! awful movie, really.
Cheers!