"Scratching for Water on the Moon"

[juju]

Originally posted by xoxoxoBruce
Why go to Mars? Or anywhere else for that matter.

Kennedy already answered this in his speech in 1962:

But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain. Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?

We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally posted by Kitsune


I found it interesting that people's heads explode when they see the numbers in NASA's budget. That number, when compared to the rest of the US budget, is a drop a large pool. Hell, the money we spend on policing other countries is several magnitude greater and at least with space exploration we get more good out of it than another country hating us from screwing stuff up for them.

OK, but two wrongs don't make a right. (and to whomever writes 3 rights make a left, fuck you :p) I don't have a problem with the Space Station or most of NASA's budget but going past the moon doesn't make sense to me.

[juju]

Where's your child-like wonder?

[elSicomoro]

It's all about priorities though. Right now, space exploration, IMO, isn't one of them.

[Kitsune]

Originally posted by xoxoxoBruce
OK, but two wrongs don't make a right. (and to whomever writes 3 rights make a left, fuck you :p) I don't have a problem with the Space Station or most of NASA's budget but going past the moon doesn't make sense to me.

What two wrongs are you pointing out?

I was just saying that most people think NASA consumes an incredible amount of money, but they don't when compared to other government agencies. People threw their arms up when The Hubble Space Telescope failed -- "Oh my GOD. How in hell could anyone build a one-ton mirror and have an error at the edge of .002mm! We should take away their funding and ground the program! They wasted 2.2 billion dollars of our money!" 2.2 billion is nothing when compared to what the gov't spends elsewhere.

And what we've learned in correcting Hubble has been amazing. I think that we stand a lot to gain through space exploration and it isn't always measurable in terms of profit.

...and despite all of this, I actually do have a problem with the ISS, but it is in other countries' treatment of it.

[Kitsune]

Originally posted by sycamore
It's all about priorities though. Right now, space exploration, IMO, isn't one of them.

Okay -- lets say we limit NASA to nothing but launching satellites for-profit every year and that they have to support themselves. We'll get ~12 billion dollars back every year.

Just out of curiosity, what would you do with the money? Where would you budget it and make it be put to use?

[elSicomoro]

We can't seem to give NASA the money it really needs right now anyway, so as I see it, there's no sense in half-assing it, especially in light of the Columbia disaster. Let's limit NASA for at least 2 years, put the money saved towards the deficit, and let Congress review the program in the summer of '05.

[jimf747]

Originally posted by xoxoxoBruce
I've been in favor of the space program up to this point and can't deny the tremendous strides in technology it's brought. But the benefit of going out further is questionable, especially on my nickel. The older I get, the less beneficial the tostesterone boosts from those launches gets.
The cost of going to Mars or beyond could fix up the Earth real pretty so we wouldn't have to move.

Yes we could fix up the earth, and then we can all sit around the campfire singing john lennon songs. What background or knowledge do you have to make negative statements concerning space exploration. Exploration is one of the cornerstones of human existence. If you’re going to withhold your “nickel”, then I suggest you learn something before doing so.

[dar512]

Originally posted by xoxoxoBruce
OK, but two wrongs don't make a right. (and to whomever writes 3 rights make a left, fuck you :p) I don't have a problem with the Space Station or most of NASA's budget but going past the moon doesn't make sense to me.

Personally, I like the "two Wrights make an airplane" version, but that's just me. Hmm.. where's the shrug smilie?

Well I think there are at least three good reasons for going out there.

1) Lots of raw resources out there. Some day we're going to need them.

2) Room. I don't see the population dropping anytime soon. The urge to procreate is built into our psyche from our much more hazardous past. We're going to need a place for all those people to go.

3) The last is harder to quantify, but the more important. I think that mankind needs a frontier. I think if we don't, the whole human race will be like the old guy that retires and just sits in his rocker. Pretty soon he just dries up and blows away.

[Kitsune]

Originally posted by sycamore
We can't seem to give NASA the money it really needs right now anyway, so as I see it, there's no sense in half-assing it, especially in light of the Columbia disaster. Let's limit NASA for at least 2 years, put the money saved towards the deficit, and let Congress review the program in the summer of '05.

You know, I actually agree with this and I think they're kind of taking a similar path at this moment -- no manned launches have left either of the pads since the loss of the Columbia. Its not a bad time to step back and re-think some of the safety procedures.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally posted by jimf747




Yes we could fix up the earth, and then we can all sit around the campfire singing john lennon songs. What background or knowledge do you have to make negative statements concerning space exploration. Exploration is one of the cornerstones of human existence. If you’re going to withhold your “nickel”, then I suggest you learn something before doing so.

And just what the fuck makes you think you know what I do or don't know? And since you have yet to contribute anything positive in any thread, You're dismissed, boy.

[jimf747]

Originally posted by xoxoxoBruce
And just what the fuck makes you think you know what I do or don't know? And since you have yet to contribute anything positive in any thread, You're dismissed, boy.

Simple… your comments

[jimf747]

Originally posted by xoxoxoBruce
And just what the fuck makes you think you know what I do or don't know? And since you have yet to contribute anything positive in any thread, You're dismissed, boy.

By the way… who said you get to determine what “positive” is

[elSicomoro]

If you asked a majority of the regular posters here, I think they'd say you are, thus far, a negative.

[bmgb]

Originally posted by sycamore
If you asked a majority of the regular posters here, I think they'd say you are, thus far, a negative.

Yep, sorry jimf747. If the majority of people here think you're an asshat, you'll have to leave. "Majority Rules."