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Post #1I don't think there's a thread, look through the 5 pages, found nothing related. Anyway, I find it very u settling how we. As a human race, is not doing anything like the Apollo program. We've stop trying to learn about the unknown, and we aren't doing as much as before, just research h abroad the ISS. What's stopping us from going back to the moon again? Why can't all the different space agencies work together, and send some people to the ducking moon? We've grown out of the red fear, and communism is no longer a threat, yet we are still not working with other space agencies to try and commit to a goal, together as a race? Its really dad after the apollo missions, we have completely given up at what we are doing best at.
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Well, for one, there is nothing to gain from going to the moon. It is a giant rock orbiting the planet, nothing else really to it. Now setting up a permanent settlement on the moon is another story. While that could be useful to launch ships from in the future, it would take many decades and billions, possible trillions of dollars to complete. Given the current state of the global economy it seems silly to waste that money on something that would have no immediate benefits.
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Only reason U.S isn't in space is because congress are a bunch of old farts who only want to be re-elected. There was an american inventor, forgot his name, but he basically proposed this huge plan that wasn't so expensive, and proved that Americans could set up a basic colony of about 50 people on Mars in less than five years. Guess what? Vetoed. Imagine all the technology and knowledge we would gain if we did something like that. We'd also have a lot more national pride, which I'm sure you can tell we're lacking in.
Plus, China's going to be in space very, very soon. Not to sound too conspiracy-theorist, but if they make a moon-base, they're going to militarize it. Then we're fucked.
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You know the galaxy is probably littered with the husks of one-planet civilizations who thought that exact same thing.
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that is if we assume we can comprehend what any alien race is like
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Yeah, blowing billions- maybe even trillions -of dollars on fighting wars we have no part in and finding new ways to kill people is a much better investment!
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You make it sound like ISS is the only thing we're actively working on.
Let me enlighten you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Horizons
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Science_Laboratory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fobos-Grunt
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yinghuo-1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juno_(spacecraft)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_Express
I found these in less than one minute. I don't even understand how you can state that "We've stop trying to learn about the unknown, and we aren't doing as much as before". Fact is that we are doing much more than before. NASA's current budget is almost as high as the 1970's. And don't forget all the new space agencies such ESA that didn't even exist during the Apollo programme.
Just because you haven't heard about it in the news doesn't mean that they don't exist. If I had time now I'd probably be able to dig up over 50 space exploration projects, that are due within 20-30 years.
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Going to space is one of the few initiatives that will change the world forever, it's a shame that's its been almost 50 years since the first satellite went up, and we haven't gone much past sending and collecting data from moons, planets, and asteriods. I mean those give us a plethora of data but we still need to look forward to colonization. We have the money, we have the technology, but lack the care for it.
Space travel is a better way to spend money than fruitless wars.
So yes, go forth past the skies to the vast riches that lie beyond
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I was going to reply, but Eudoxia is viewing this thread and can probably form a better argument than me, so I'll just let him handle it.
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He's just so awesome
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If we want to advance as a race, we must explore space, otherwise we are doomed to stagnation and decay
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We need somewhere else to go when we inevitably fuck the Earth up.
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I think that all the unmanned stuff is useful and all, but if we're really going to get anywhere there should be more manned missions in their place, despite the extra cost involved.
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We could have people living on Mars RIGHT NOW for the money we wasted in our invasions of the Middle East. But, hey, exploration doesn't win reelection for half-retarded cowboys from Texas.
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Hopefully in our life times we see some colonization on the moon or mars.
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We need to come up with something revolutionizing at some point, because right now the distances in space grow far too large for us to travel them. I mean, I don't see much other possibilities besides from some kind of teleporting technology or wormhole exploitation.
People got thousands of years to figure all that up though, but if we can't reach MUCH higher speeds than what we have now, or if we can't develop way more sophisticated methods of space travel, we really are fucked.
Without the utilizing of Earth's resources, fucking with the Earth, we couldn't get out of this planet in the first place.
But if you think, a lot of its resources has been used to create shit.
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well they managed to get tiny parts to travel faster than light (is this confirmed?)
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But yeah, the current technology about space travel we have now is pretty awful at space exploration
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This'll probably be impossible/an insane bad idea (for now), but what about: a spaceship build in the sameway as the ISS, made out of modules.
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whatever it's not like it'll have any advantages
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nope
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I live five minutes from JSC. I assure you it means more to us than to you.
There are many facets to the space exploration debate. Swebonny is correct in saying there are many plans in action, but the truth is we, as a nation, aren't as interested in space exploration as we used to be. That sounds abstract and circumstantial, but it's true. You don't see anything on the news anymore, because it is no longer the source of national pride it once was.
From a practical standpoint, the area I live in is supported by the space program. NASA (and, to an even greater extent, its contractors) has cut jobs due to the cut Orion budget. Sure, it still exists, but I view the new plan as more of a consolation.
If our country's leaders want to promote education, scientific advancement, and the well-fare of its people through job opportunity, all they need to do is support the space program the way it deserves to be supported.
He may be referring to neutrinos. Those particles have been known to travel slightly faster than light.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutrino
Possible uses:
"Neutrinos are also useful for probing astrophysical sources beyond our solar system because they are the only known particles that are not significantly attenuated by their travel through the interstellar medium. Optical photons can be obscured or diffused by dust, gas, and background radiation. High-energy cosmic rays, in the form of swift protons and atomic nuclei, are not able to travel more than about 100 megaparsecs due to the GZK cutoff. Neutrinos, in contrast, can travel even greater distances barely attenuated."
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I think that a moon-base (inb4 aeiou) would be a great idea. It would really improve morale of the nation, offer an entirely new frontier, and there would be plenty of experiments that could be done simply and easily. I don't see it being much harder than the ISS, but I'm not an engineer. Maybe create a sort of space-station that could just land on the moon? A ship full of rations could supply food short-term, and a "farming pod" that could house plants could be a basis for long-term farming.
Plus, it would be pretty awesome if we could fire nuclear missiles off the moon.
Edited:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_the_Moon
Looking more at this, Moon Colonization would actually be pretty amazing. It could become a sort of middle ground for spaceships, as it would take only a fraction of the velocity of Earth's gravity to escape the moon's pull. Also, the Apollo astronauts made the trip in 3 days.
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what the fuck does that have to do with anything
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Space is the final frontier.
So why not explore it, just like we explored our planet.
And who knows, maybe in a "near" future, we will be able to harvest asteroids.
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wasn't it agreed that the moon would never be used for something like that
also that's a terrible idea
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I'm not sure why I posted that, but admit it: moon-to-earth missiles would be pretty badass, as well as useful.
Of course, most of Facepunch is anti-war, but still. It could be a bit useful for military uses.
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Wait. How would missiles on the moon be any more useful than ICBMs?
I mean if you fired a missile from the moon it'd take atleast a day for it to even reach earth.
You have too much Hollywood in your head son.
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Slaaf van EternalFlamez.Ik wilde heel graag de laatste Indie Bundle, en ik kreeg deze kuttitel er gratis bij.
March 2010
3,976 Posts
I love Space Exploration, I would also love to find life on another planet.
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according to one experiment, it appeared to travel slightly faster. and the wiki article even says: "Currently the value of the neutrino velocity is the subject of intensive theoretical and experimental studies."
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I once saw an article about some material, which costs like $1000 per 10 grams because it's so rare. The same article also told how the moon probably had tons of that stuff.
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That would be helium-three I think.
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Indeed, if Helium-3 does in fact become the main source of fuel for society in the future, we may end up mining the moon for it.
Anyone see the totally amazing indie movie MOON? That's part of the plot.
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That movie was awesome, Shame that in the end it was just one clone out of thousands running it
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The Chinese are looking into pushing near Earth asteroids into orbit around the Earth with the intentions of being able to make things come closer to us so we can harvest them without us having to spend years traveling toward them.
Dead Space will become a reality.
http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1108/1108.4767.pdf
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Hypothetically, who would support a scientific dictatorship of the united states? Like if a bunch of scientists removed the current leaders and just said they will advance technology to the limit, with much increased funding into R&D of space technology?
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not me
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If us humans want to stay around for any amount of all, we must expand into space. I myself are very confident that we are not the only things in the universe, because even though it is a one in a billion(not exact just saying) chance for life, there is so much out there that it is mathematically impossible to be the only forms of life, so that means that are planets that can sustain life.
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No. Just because there's infinite space doesn't mean that there's infinite mass (and an infinite number of planets). No one knows if there's life out there yet.
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Where did you get one in a billion chance for life and are you talking in our solar system, galaxy, universe?
Scientists have found around 600 extrasolar planets that are increadibly close to earth (in universal distances) some of which have been, or are being tested for the existance of organic molecules with apparent success.
Mars has quite a lot of evidence of being like an early Earth once (apparent riverbeds, etc.) and if traces of past life are found on Mars then the chances of a very well populated universe will increase a lot.
The way I see it, scientists all over the world are being very optimistic about the chances of life past or present in our galaxy alone, they would not be without sufficient evidence.
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Space exploration would be useful for mining. There are more minerals out there than down here. It would always be a solution for over population, all the criminals can be moved to Titan or Mars.
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I agree with you, and I just through in that billion chance because it's generally a small chance, but even when you're talking about something as large as the universe, or hell even a galaxy it's a good chance at that.
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I know, and I didn't say infinite mass, I just simply stated that there is loads and loads of galaxy's in our observable universe, witch means there is 1,000X that many stars and stars that have a solar system like ours does. I didn't mean for it to sounds like I was talking infinite mass if that's what it implied.
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There are massive amounts of materials on the moon that are rare / expensive on earth.
