NASA admits they can't send a human to Mars

[Divine Wind]

You don't get it, one big rock and we're done.

The surface of Mars is a hostile environment. One major storm or earthquake could wipe out our feeble colony

You still don't have to go. Why do you want to ban people from going?

I get to comment on how my tax dollar is spent

Agreed...again. Just as I did earlier. Now, explain to me why are you against Musk and other nations from going? You know, the question you dodged earlier with a "you don't get it"?

Then what value do we get that can't be performed by a unmanned rovers?

Smart people have the chance to leave the planet leaving all of the dumbasses behind.

Why not just set up a colony on the bottom of the ocean. It is just as desolate and we cannot leave the security of our shelters and go for a walk

Why not do both? Again, why do you insist what others choose to do? I can see why, as a taxpayer, you are against spending money on science, but why stop people like Musk or foreign governments from sending manned missions off-planet?

Stroll around on a planet devastated by an impact event or supervolcano? What's to see?

Private industry and foreign nations can do anything they want with their money & with my blessing & I am positive everyone else feels the same way.

Personally, I'm all for other nations getting out of the wagon and help pull & push.

Of course you are.

 

[MarkDuffy]

.
Just wait. If they find silver, tungsten, platinum or gold on the surface of Venus.....there will be an orbital mining colony in no time flat.

You've been watching too much tv.

Robot asteroid mining is more achievable. Returning the materials to space or lunar refineries and factories would reduce the costs since it would be easier to turn the mine ships around for a subsequent run.

Sounds cost prohibitive.

Awesome. So don't go. Are you against corporations from doing it?

Asteroid Mining | Deep Space Industries

Instead of a US flag on spacecraft and stations there will be company logos like Orbital Insight, Spire and SpaceX. Of course, the Chinese company will probably still fly the PRC flag.

The 10 Most Innovative Companies In Space 2017

or bankruptcy notices in newspapers

 

[Divine Wind]

You don't get it, one big rock and we're done.

The surface of Mars is a hostile environment. One major storm or earthquake could wipe out our feeble colony

You still don't have to go. Why do you want to ban people from going?

I get to comment on how my tax dollar is spent

Agreed...again. Just as I did earlier. Now, explain to me why are you against Musk and other nations from going? You know, the question you dodged earlier with a "you don't get it"?

Then what value do we get that can't be performed by a unmanned rovers?

Smart people have the chance to leave the planet leaving all of the dumbasses behind.

Why not just set up a colony on the bottom of the ocean. It is just as desolate and we cannot leave the security of our shelters and go for a walk

Why not do both? Again, why do you insist what others choose to do? I can see why, as a taxpayer, you are against spending money on science, but why stop people like Musk or foreign governments from sending manned missions off-planet?

Stroll around on a planet devastated by an impact event or supervolcano? What's to see?

I never had anything about private investment in space travel
I have no issues with exploring the universe
I just think that manned space travel is not warranted

Good to hear. Okey-Dokey.

Now you have a better understanding about why so many people are concerned when seeing their tax dollars blown on entitlements, "free college" and other giveaways.

 

[rightwinger]

The surface of Mars is a hostile environment. One major storm or earthquake could wipe out our feeble colony

You still don't have to go. Why do you want to ban people from going?

I get to comment on how my tax dollar is spent

Agreed...again. Just as I did earlier. Now, explain to me why are you against Musk and other nations from going? You know, the question you dodged earlier with a "you don't get it"?

Smart people have the chance to leave the planet leaving all of the dumbasses behind.

Why not just set up a colony on the bottom of the ocean. It is just as desolate and we cannot leave the security of our shelters and go for a walk

Why not do both? Again, why do you insist what others choose to do? I can see why, as a taxpayer, you are against spending money on science, but why stop people like Musk or foreign governments from sending manned missions off-planet?

Stroll around on a planet devastated by an impact event or supervolcano? What's to see?

I never had anything about private investment in space travel
I have no issues with exploring the universe
I just think that manned space travel is not warranted

Good to hear. Okey-Dokey.

Now you have a better understanding about why so many people are concerned when seeing their tax dollars blown on entitlements, "free college" and other giveaways.

I have no problem using tax dollars on helping people who need help
I think it is a better expenditure than spending money to send a human to a distant planet

 

[Divine Wind]

.
Just wait. If they find silver, tungsten, platinum or gold on the surface of Venus.....there will be an orbital mining colony in no time flat.

You've been watching too much tv.

Robot asteroid mining is more achievable. Returning the materials to space or lunar refineries and factories would reduce the costs since it would be easier to turn the mine ships around for a subsequent run.

Sounds cost prohibitive.

Awesome. So don't go. Are you against corporations from doing it?

Asteroid Mining | Deep Space Industries

Instead of a US flag on spacecraft and stations there will be company logos like Orbital Insight, Spire and SpaceX. Of course, the Chinese company will probably still fly the PRC flag.

The 10 Most Innovative Companies In Space 2017

or bankruptcy notices in newspapers

Sorry, I forgot you were anti-capitalism.

God Bless America!

 

[Divine Wind]

You still don't have to go. Why do you want to ban people from going?

I get to comment on how my tax dollar is spent

Agreed...again. Just as I did earlier. Now, explain to me why are you against Musk and other nations from going? You know, the question you dodged earlier with a "you don't get it"?

Why not just set up a colony on the bottom of the ocean. It is just as desolate and we cannot leave the security of our shelters and go for a walk

Why not do both? Again, why do you insist what others choose to do? I can see why, as a taxpayer, you are against spending money on science, but why stop people like Musk or foreign governments from sending manned missions off-planet?

Stroll around on a planet devastated by an impact event or supervolcano? What's to see?

I never had anything about private investment in space travel
I have no issues with exploring the universe
I just think that manned space travel is not warranted

Good to hear. Okey-Dokey.

Now you have a better understanding about why so many people are concerned when seeing their tax dollars blown on entitlements, "free college" and other giveaways.

I have no problem using tax dollars on helping people who need help
I think it is a better expenditure than spending money to send a human to a distant planet

Me neither, but paying someone not to work is not helping them. It hurts Middle Class Americans.

 

[rightwinger]

I get to comment on how my tax dollar is spent

Agreed...again. Just as I did earlier. Now, explain to me why are you against Musk and other nations from going? You know, the question you dodged earlier with a "you don't get it"?

Why not do both? Again, why do you insist what others choose to do? I can see why, as a taxpayer, you are against spending money on science, but why stop people like Musk or foreign governments from sending manned missions off-planet?

Stroll around on a planet devastated by an impact event or supervolcano? What's to see?

I never had anything about private investment in space travel
I have no issues with exploring the universe
I just think that manned space travel is not warranted

Good to hear. Okey-Dokey.

Now you have a better understanding about why so many people are concerned when seeing their tax dollars blown on entitlements, "free college" and other giveaways.

I have no problem using tax dollars on helping people who need help
I think it is a better expenditure than spending money to send a human to a distant planet

Me neither, but paying someone not to work is not helping them. It hurts Middle Class Americans.

It is helping people who need help...something great societies do

 

[MarkDuffy]

Elon Musk's growing empire is fueled by $4.9 billion in government subsidies

Tesla Motors Inc., SolarCity Corp. and Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, together have benefited from an estimated $4.9 billion in government support, according to data compiled by The Times. The figure underscores a common theme running through his emerging empire: a public-private financing model underpinning long-shot start-ups.

"He definitely goes where there is government money," said Dan Dolev, an analyst at Jefferies Equity Research. "That's a great strategy, but the government will cut you off one day."

Elon Musk's growing empire is fueled by $4.9 billion in government subsidies

 

[petro]

I really see a lack of imagination and a defeatist attitude running through this thread.
Humans will eventually spread throughout the solar system and beyond.
Exploration is part of our DNA and survival instincts. When we deny that need to explore and spread our reach we will falter as a species.

We are still exploring. As a matter of fact we have done more exploration now then we did during the heydays of the Mercury to Apollo days.

We are just doing it smarter now. The human factor has been removed until technology catches up.

We have found tons of planets around stars, photographed & done spectrographical analysis of our entire solar system. We have made lots of new cosmological discoveries and furthered fundamental physics.

Remember there was more computing power in an Atari game machine then there was in the lunar module.

I really see a lack of imagination and a defeatist attitude running through this thread.
Humans will eventually spread throughout the solar system and beyond.
Exploration is part of our DNA and survival instincts. When we deny that need to explore and spread our reach we will falter as a species.

You hit the nail on the head

Imagination

Imagination.
Without it we would not have the technological advances we take for granted.
Without it there would be no written word, no art, no concept of love or appreciation of life.
Sorry you lack it.

Sorry you lack it

LOL

Do you believe as I do that the universe is teeming with life?

What I believe is irrelevant. We will only find out if we get out there.

You said I lack imagination, implying you had more. Prove it and answer my question.

My background is astrophysics and evolutionary biology

EDIT ~ Not true. We don't have to be personally there to discover and explore. We do chemistry but don't actually see individual atoms interacting.

That comment was directed at rightwinger. Site froze and screwed up quote for some reason. Although those that don't see an eventual permanent human presence on Mars or any other body in a couple of hundred years do lack the imagination to see an inevitable.
As far as robotics, machines are only as good as the humans that build and program them. The human presence adds an element that a computer will never have such as intuition and experience. Half of our probes have disappeared or crashed due to technical errors which maybe could have been fixed on the fly by a human operator.
Scratching at the first few feet of a planet in a very limited area with a rover really satisfy your biological or geological curiosity? Not mine, which is why I argue for human exploration.

 

[MarkDuffy]

We are still exploring. As a matter of fact we have done more exploration now then we did during the heydays of the Mercury to Apollo days.

We are just doing it smarter now. The human factor has been removed until technology catches up.

We have found tons of planets around stars, photographed & done spectrographical analysis of our entire solar system. We have made lots of new cosmological discoveries and furthered fundamental physics.

Remember there was more computing power in an Atari game machine then there was in the lunar module.

You hit the nail on the head

Imagination

Imagination.
Without it we would not have the technological advances we take for granted.
Without it there would be no written word, no art, no concept of love or appreciation of life.
Sorry you lack it.

Sorry you lack it

LOL

Do you believe as I do that the universe is teeming with life?

What I believe is irrelevant. We will only find out if we get out there.

You said I lack imagination, implying you had more. Prove it and answer my question.

My background is astrophysics and evolutionary biology

EDIT ~ Not true. We don't have to be personally there to discover and explore. We do chemistry but don't actually see individual atoms interacting.

That comment was directed at rightwinger. Site froze and screwed up quote for some reason. Although those that don't see an eventual permanent human presence on Mars or any other body in a couple of hundred years do lack the imagination to see an inevitable.
As far as robotics, machines are only as good as the humans that build and program them. The human presence adds an element that a computer will never have such as intuition and experience. Half of our probes have disappeared or crashed due to technical errors which maybe could have been fixed on the fly by a human operator.
Scratching at the first few feet of a planet in a very limited area with a rover really satisfy your biological or geological curiosity? Not mine, which is why I argue for human exploration.

Half of our probes have disappeared or crashed due to technical errors which maybe could have been fixed on the fly by a human operator.

Fantasy

 

[Divine Wind]

Five reasons to go:
5 undeniable reasons humans need to colonize Mars — even though it's going to cost billions
Establishing a permanent colony of humans on Mars is not an option. It's a necessity.

At least, that's what some of the most innovative, intelligent minds of our age — Buzz Aldrin, Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk, Bill Nye, and Neil deGrasse Tyson — are saying.

Of course, it's extremely difficult to foresee how manned missions to Mars that would cost hundreds of billions of dollars each, could benefit mankind. It's easier to imagine how that kind of money could immediately help in the fight against cancer or world hunger. That's because humans tend to be short-sighted. We're focused on what's happening tomorrow instead of 100 years from now.

"If the human race is to continue for another million years, we will have to boldly go where no one has gone before," Hawking said in 2008 at a lecture series for NASA's 50th anniversary.

That brings us to the first reason humans must colonize Mars:

1. Ensuring the survival of our species....

2. Discovering life on Mars....

3. Improving the quality of life on Earth....

4. Growing as a species....

5. Demonstrating political and economic leadership....

 

[MarkDuffy]

Here's even one of your sites, deviant.breeze. Breitbart

Elon Musk Wins By Gaming the Subsidy Game

Gotta admit it, Elon Musk can make me feel the Bern.
I’m with Bernie on the billionaires. Some of them are ruining the country. It’s not those who use their own noggins to come up with ways to make money, whether by starting companies or investing wisely.

The ones who bug me are the ones who are rich off my tax dollars.

Elon Musk Wins By Gaming the Subsidy Game - Breitbart

 

[ding]

.
Just wait. If they find silver, tungsten, platinum or gold on the surface of Venus.....there will be an orbital mining colony in no time flat.

You've been watching too much tv.

Robot asteroid mining is more achievable. Returning the materials to space or lunar refineries and factories would reduce the costs since it would be easier to turn the mine ships around for a subsequent run.

Sounds cost prohibitive.

Awesome. So don't go. Are you against corporations from doing it?

Asteroid Mining | Deep Space Industries

Instead of a US flag on spacecraft and stations there will be company logos like Orbital Insight, Spire and SpaceX. Of course, the Chinese company will probably still fly the PRC flag.

The 10 Most Innovative Companies In Space 2017

Because I think it sounds cost prohibitive? I wasn't planning on going.

 

[rightwinger]

Imagination.
Without it we would not have the technological advances we take for granted.
Without it there would be no written word, no art, no concept of love or appreciation of life.
Sorry you lack it.

Sorry you lack it

LOL

Do you believe as I do that the universe is teeming with life?

What I believe is irrelevant. We will only find out if we get out there.

You said I lack imagination, implying you had more. Prove it and answer my question.

My background is astrophysics and evolutionary biology

EDIT ~ Not true. We don't have to be personally there to discover and explore. We do chemistry but don't actually see individual atoms interacting.

That comment was directed at rightwinger. Site froze and screwed up quote for some reason. Although those that don't see an eventual permanent human presence on Mars or any other body in a couple of hundred years do lack the imagination to see an inevitable.
As far as robotics, machines are only as good as the humans that build and program them. The human presence adds an element that a computer will never have such as intuition and experience. Half of our probes have disappeared or crashed due to technical errors which maybe could have been fixed on the fly by a human operator.
Scratching at the first few feet of a planet in a very limited area with a rover really satisfy your biological or geological curiosity? Not mine, which is why I argue for human exploration.

Half of our probes have disappeared or crashed due to technical errors which maybe could have been fixed on the fly by a human operator.

Fantasy

Even at that...if a probe crashes on Mars the story is buried on page 6. If a manned flight crashes......it is a catastrophe

 

[Divine Wind]

Even at that...if a probe crashes on Mars the story is buried on page 6. If a manned flight crashes......it is a catastrophe

Actually, it's front page news, but I get your drift. Still, that's human nature. Kill 30,000 people a day in car crashes spread across 50 states and 365 days, it's only local news. Crash a bus killing 10-15 at once, it's national news.

 

[Divine Wind]

.
Just wait. If they find silver, tungsten, platinum or gold on the surface of Venus.....there will be an orbital mining colony in no time flat.

You've been watching too much tv.

Robot asteroid mining is more achievable. Returning the materials to space or lunar refineries and factories would reduce the costs since it would be easier to turn the mine ships around for a subsequent run.

Sounds cost prohibitive.

Awesome. So don't go. Are you against corporations from doing it?

Asteroid Mining | Deep Space Industries

Instead of a US flag on spacecraft and stations there will be company logos like Orbital Insight, Spire and SpaceX. Of course, the Chinese company will probably still fly the PRC flag.

The 10 Most Innovative Companies In Space 2017

Because I think it sounds cost prohibitive? I wasn't planning on going.

Figured you weren't. Also figured you'd never want to go.

Like the people who founded the United States, there are people who left the "Old World" for the "New World" and there are those who were content to stay at home. Nothing wrong with either choice, but let's not deny people the choice.

 

[ding]

You've been watching too much tv.

Robot asteroid mining is more achievable. Returning the materials to space or lunar refineries and factories would reduce the costs since it would be easier to turn the mine ships around for a subsequent run.

Sounds cost prohibitive.

Awesome. So don't go. Are you against corporations from doing it?

Asteroid Mining | Deep Space Industries

Instead of a US flag on spacecraft and stations there will be company logos like Orbital Insight, Spire and SpaceX. Of course, the Chinese company will probably still fly the PRC flag.

The 10 Most Innovative Companies In Space 2017

Because I think it sounds cost prohibitive? I wasn't planning on going.

Figured you weren't. Also figured you'd never want to go.

Like the people who founded the United States, there are people who left the "Old World" for the "New World" and there are those who were content to stay at home. Nothing wrong with either choice, but let's not deny people the choice.

I think you are confusing conversations. Ours was on robotic mining.

 

[ding]

There is no commercial application for space mining. People are watching too much tv.

 

[westwall]

Basically, NASA finally admits it's all been wishful thinking. They're not even close to being able to do it, and they won't be close in the foreseeable future. While they say it's all about money, it's far more than money. They just don't have the tech.

NASA finally admits it doesn’t have the funding to land humans on Mars

It doesn't help that they'll miss the best launch window. There are two 'launch window cycles' at play. There's the more important window, which comes every 2.2 years, when Earth is close to "catching up" with Mars. Every Mars launch happens in that window. And there's a less strong 16-year cycle, based on the eccentricity of each planet's orbit. That reaches a minimum in 2018. We'll miss that window, then it won't get that good again until the 2030's. It's maybe a 20% difference in flight time, but if you're trying to have your people not die from radiation, minimizing trip time is vital.

So, realistically, nothing until the 2030s, at the earliest. Maybe Chang-Díaz will have his VASIMR plasma drive working by then, which would help considerably. If it works, it would have much more power than the present Hall thruster plasma drives, and get twice the "gas mileage".

NASA’s longshot bet on a revolutionary rocket may be about to pay off

And another thing, it's been found the Martian soil is so toxic, it will kill all bacteria. Any bacterial life on Mars will have to be buried deep. The new European robot probe will bring a 2-meter drill.

Mars covered in toxic chemicals that can wipe out living organisms, tests reveal

Anybody who is capable of thinking for themselves kinda, sorta, knew this so it is not surprising, nor is it disappointing. Instead of fanciful projects like that, NASA should be working on building a permanent base on the Moon from which it would be a lot easier to launch long distance missions to the rest of the Solar System.

Ship the same weight to the moon. Have a moon base with it's own problems & expense. Not easier, harder. You have the problem of spare parts and huge time delays when problems arise. A logistics nightmare. Besides, we don't need the number of missions of exploration to make it necessary.

You only have to leave earth's orbit. The distance to outer worlds is a coast & gravitational assist.

If you want to assemble, do it in earth orbit.

Wrong. What matters is what the weight you are shipping IS! Sending manufacturing plants to the Moon, where they can then begin producing supplies from the Moons raw materials is the way to go. You need a better imagination my friend. Add to that the development of new technologies to loft payloads such as mass drivers etc, and a Lunar base becomes a much more likely possibility.

What moon raw materials? LOL

Now you are talking an entire country on the moon.

We KNOW that there are relatively rich deposits of magnesium, aluminium, silicon, iron and titanium. We also KNOW that the Helium 3 concentration is fairly high compared to the Earth so if fusion power ever becomes a reality the fuel supply is already in place. It seems you don't know much about what you are speaking.

 

[MarkDuffy]

Liftoff for Donald Trump's bold space plans may have to wait

CAPE CANAVERAL: The White House has championed a new era of US leadership in space, but its aspirations are complicated by tight budgets, vacancies in top posts and the rising role of private industry in aerospace innovation, experts say.

During a speech Thursday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Vice President Mike Pence delighted hundreds of space agency employees and contractors by pledging that "under President Trump, we will achieve more in space than we ever thought possible."

Pence promised a "return to the Moon," as well as "American boots on the face of Mars" and a "constant presence in low-Earth orbit."

Larson described a series of recent space-themed orations by Pence as "no cake, just icing."

"I think (Thursday's) speech was, of course, short on substance because there is no substance," Logsdon said.

Some are skeptical of the White House's soaring rhetoric because crucial leadership positions remain unfilled.

His call for the US to exit the Paris climate accord angered the CEO of SpaceX, Elon Musk, who walked away from his advisory role to the president after the announcement earlier this year.

For instance, the US space agency set a dubious record on the Fourth of July: the longest span of time that a newly elected president has gone without naming a new NASA chief.

Trump's proposed budget for NASA -- which has yet to be hammered out by lawmakers -- called for $19.1 billion in spending, a 0.8 percent cut from the previous year.

Liftoff for Donald Trump's bold space plans may have to wait

All hat & no cattle, aka more BS piled higher and deeper