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Spliner
07/21/09

In reply to Apollo 11 Astronauts Push For A Mission To Mars
Bah, they'll all be long gone by the time we go to Mars. I'd love to see us go to Mars in the next 15 years, but it just isn't going to happen. Skipping the moon and shooting directly for mars does nothing but give NASA and our government 20-30 more years to do nothing but whine about budgets. We've already wasted 40 years, what is a few more right? Bah.

I have the greatest respect for these guys, but we are going to need somewhere to test our new fleet of spacecraft. What better place than the moon?
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AriellaDrury
07/20/09

In reply to Apollo 11 Astronauts Push For A Mission To Mars
If explorers of the past waited until their local issues were resolved, they'd never have gone. Remember that the money is not spent on the planet in question, it is spent 100% on Earth, improving many local economies.

p.s. we will never, ever solve all our problems on Earth.
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Bill-Lee
07/20/09

@AriellaDrury: If you think about it, the explorers of the past set out in response to events at home. The Vikings set out because of population pressures, Columbus left to find an alternate rout to Asia after the Muslims and the Chinese closed off the land routes, and we will go to Mars when similar pressures such as economic, environmental, social, and political factors drive us to do so.
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diverguy
07/20/09

In reply to Apollo 11 Astronauts Push For A Mission To Mars
I missed the 1st landing on the moon by 2 months. And while I was around for all the others, I was too young to know.

I would love to be alive when we land on Mars (yet be young enough to know what's going on and not just drooling on myself in front of the TV).

But I'm not convinced it's going to happen. According to Fiction, The NX01 Enterprise is supposed to launch in 2151. At this rate, in the real world, the human race will not even have landed on the neighbouring planet by that time.
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Bill-Lee
07/20/09

@diverguy: Uh do you base all your judgments on what did or didn't happen on Star Trek? According to Star Trek we should have fought the Eugenics war by now.
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Edited by Bill-Lee at 07/20/09 11:38 PM Bill-Lee was starred Bill-Lee was unstarred

Dv8
07/20/09

In reply to Apollo 11 Astronauts Push For A Mission To Mars
Though going to mars seems like a cool and pioneering thing to do...its a waste of resources and money. How about we focus on fixing problems here on Earth.
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Grey_Area
07/20/09

@Dv8: That has been the common cry for the last forty years or so. How much has been fixed? Would more space exploration really doom us all?
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phoenix
07/20/09

@Grey_Area: This is an excellent point. People complain about the money used in spaceflight but forget that the money spent on the very real science being done in the space sciences pales in comparison to the money thrown away on far more worthless endeavors.

Even worse, it stinks of this mentality that you can only focus on one thing at a time - you can't explore space and work to fix earthbound problems at the same time. They're not mutually exclusive folks, even if they aren't necessarily linked either.
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Dr Emilio Lizardo
07/20/09

@Dv8: With that sort of short sighted thinking, we will never go anywhere. Meanwhile, the third world will breed the earth into inhabatibility.

Going to mars is an invetment - just as the moon was - not a frivolous expense. the things we learn going to mars and beyond are what will save the human rqace and the earth.
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Dr Emilio Lizardo
07/20/09

@Dv8: With that kind of short sighted thinking we will never go anywhere. meanwhile, the third world will breed the earth into inhabatibility.

Going to mars adn beyond is an investment, not a frivolous expense. the things we learn in the process and on the journey will help to save the earth and the human race.
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namanintx
07/20/09

@Dr Emilio Lizardo: If we want a dream, why go all the way to Mars? There are so many fascinating, pie-in-the-sky dreams we can attempt nearby that, IMO, will help us before any Mars trip.

Let's build that crazy orbital elevator, or a REAL residential space station, or orbital factories/farms/colonies/casinos/whatever.

Why watch a handful of people going someplace far away. Lets make it so you and I can inexpensively visit, maybe even live in space within our lifetime. That's a far more interesting goal to me.
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Dr Emilio Lizardo
07/20/09

@namanintx: OK, lets do all that. But if we say we can't afford it because we have more immediate problems, we'll never do any of it.
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Bill-Lee
07/20/09

@Dv8: Going to Mars would be a chance to visit the ultimate "what if" scenario. Mars is Earth "if" Earth lost most of its atmosphere just as Venus is Earth "if" Earth was shrouded in toxic gas. It would be an opportunity for research into the mechanics of the solar system. We can only do so much with robots and probes.
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Grey_Area
07/20/09

In reply to Apollo 11 Astronauts Push For A Mission To Mars
Aside from being astonishingly cool. Is there any reason to focus all our attention on a manned Mars mission rather than seriously develop the resources to be had on our nearest neighbor?

With all respect to the Apollo pioneers, to go there just because we can smacks of just more of the sort of chest-beating the original Moon landings are criticized for. A big game of interplanetary "FIRST!!!1!".

Yes, we should be on Mars. But why overlook a perfectly good site for a permanent base already in orbit around us. It seems like the ISS will be deorbited before it's ever completed. Maybe in 25 years China or India might rent the US out a room in whatever habitats they'll have in orbit. Heh.

There's a moon in the sky, and it's called the Moon.
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namanintx
07/20/09

In reply to Apollo 11 Astronauts Push For A Mission To Mars
I disagree with them. A Mars landing would be nice for the national pride, but that's about it.

How about a permanent colony on the Moon and a large orbital colony, like an O'Neil station? Much more exciting than a boring old Mars landing any day!

(Then we can build gundams!)
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Grey_Area promoted this comment Edited by namanintx at 07/20/09 4:17 PM namanintx was starred namanintx was unstarred

Grey_Area
07/20/09

@namanintx: I need to type faster/more succinctly.

A Mars landing would be Very Exciting. But after the thrill..."Gee. we're an awful long way from home."

If there aren't resources there valuable enough to finance regular flights to Earth/Luna and back no one will be able to support a viable colony.
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Edited by Grey_Area at 07/20/09 4:45 PM Grey_Area was starred Grey_Area was unstarred

Bill-Lee
07/20/09

In reply to Apollo 11 Astronauts Push For A Mission To Mars
The government in the 1960s were willing to pay for the Apollo Program because it was being used as a tool in the Cold War: We really wanted to show the Soviets what we were capable of. I am glad we have a president now who is interested in science. Maybe after health care reform he can do something about getting NASA on track to Mars. One of the problems is that there has been a slide in the quality and quantity of science education in America. Our young people just aren't excited about space anymore. That's one of the reasons I wish Hollywood would make more realistic hard science fiction movies, to get kids excited again space again. As much as I love Space Opera, I think there is room on SciFi's schedule for an epic series grounded in real science and a realistic approach to space.

That's another reason that the change from SciFi to SyFy is so disapointing. It throws out the science. It would have been much better to rebrand as the Science Fiction Channel. With and emphasis on the Science.
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kosai
07/20/09

@Bill-Lee: not that science was a bush administration priority, but he did set some serious goals for NASA
http://www.nasa.gov/missions/solarsystem/bush_vision.html
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ManchuCandidate
07/20/09

@kosai:
Like father, like son.

Where's the Mars Mission that Bush I promised?
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phoenix
07/20/09

@kosai: The problem is he had goals that were publicly palatable, but he didn't provide the budget to make those goals reality. But neither did Congress, so the blame doesn't land entirely on his shoulders - he just made a promise he knew no one else would keep.
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Bill-Lee
07/20/09

@kosai: It would have been nice if Bush had put some money towards the impressive goals. Instead he decided going to war against Iraq was more important. W also promised to build a hydrogen economy which also never materialized. Bush just paid lip service to scientific and technological progress.
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The2ndDecade
07/20/09

In reply to Apollo 11 Astronauts Push For A Mission To Mars
When are they gonna travel to mars? I mean its 2009 almost 2010, and we still haven't even gone back to the moon.
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Grey_Area
07/20/09

@The2ndDecade: NASA won't commit to any manned Mars mission before 2030. There's already some talk of scrapping the Constellation program and they haven't even done the first test launch of the Ares rocket (that's next month on the 30th). I'd be surprised if a human being is on Mars before 2050.
Actually, given my age by then, the shock will probably kill me.
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jajbowler
07/20/09

In reply to Moon Memorials Let You Party Like It’s 1969
[reads article]

...No way... That's great!

[exits room exuberantly]

We've landed on the moon!!!
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