Star Trekking, Star Warring or EarthBound for Life

[gizz72]

Greetings,

I read that we(earthlings :-) ) can now terraform mars, sometimes soon. We now have the technology to travel as far as Saturn. We may even mine on the moon. Develope Nuclear, Solar propulsion. Probably just 'beaming' up to a planet? Who knows how far we can achieve?

'For such great powers comes great responsibility'. So, are we really destined for space exploration, conquest or earth bound for life? Let's decide the fate of man kind. :-)

Cheers,

Gizz

[Cymric]

I doubt we can terraform Mars. We might be able to, one day, but for the time being we will be living in nice cozy pressure domes. The same, but to an even greater extent applies to the Moon, of course.

While I am heartily envious of all the people who get to play with robotic vehicles on different planets and get paid for it as well, I do not think humans have a place in space for a very, very long time to come. And with that I mean centuries, not decades. I think the plans of the Bush administration to go to Mars by 2020 or thereabouts are too ambitious, to the point of plain insanity. Space is simply too hostile for humans, and we do not have the technology, nor the social skills to pull it off. I say we forget about venturing out into space further than the Moon, until we have figured out a decent engine, learned to live together peacefully on Earth without religious nuts threatening to blow us up in the name of God or Allah, and worked out what exactly it is we want to do in space. As long as the answer to 'why?' is 'because it's there', we are doomed to fail: mountains could be conquered that way, space can not.

[KennyR]

Even if we could seed Mars with enough algae to form an oxygen atmosphere, I wouldn't fancy living in one third earth gravity. I'd be dead of heart disease in a decade.

[Speelgoedmannetje]

We cannot even have our things right here on Earth, let alone on Mars...
I also see a bad future for space exploration.
I mean, as long as they do not find a cheap, safe way to travel through space, and first of all maybe, find a good reason to actually do it (alike the cold war), it won't happen.

though I want to... I really want to :-(

[cecilia]

i'd be willing to live on the moon (or where-ever) just to get AWAY from those religious nuts!

and i think the only hope humans like me have is figuring how to get the heck out of here.

never mind bush. he's a nutcase. he doesn't really understand science on ANY level. remember, this is the nut-job that doesn't believe in stem cell research. he's NOT interested in going to Mars for science. he wants to go because he want "history" to remember him in a positive light.

you know, JFK=Moon
          Bush=Mars

sorry, bushy, all you'll be remembered for is what a bumbling a-hole you are.

[gizz72]

@Cecilia
I agree we live in a world of chaos. Science and Technology is our only hope of ever achieving this. Not politics. Nor even religion!
I'm still optimistic how we can all look at this in a different perspective someday(or may not be in this lifetime).
I've always like to migrate to space, if possible and live a life on mars.
I don't mind operate a few droids to mine. More important, plant a seed on Mars. To make a hydrophonic garden. Space belongs to all of us.
I just hope they don't screw up the Earth, like blowing us all to kingdom come with thier pety wars!
Cheer up everyone, I hope there's a good in all of we can achieve. I hope it's not too late and end up like 'Planet of the Apes'.

We could do better!

Cheers,

Gizz

[whabang]

While I am heartily envious of all the people who get to play with robotic vehicles on different planets and get paid for it as well

:lol: Who isn't?!


Getting to Mars before 2020 is certainly possible, if done with primitive means, or if the US decided to put more money on space exploration than on it's military (which IMO would be a good thing). The question is if such an expedition would have much scientific value. Sure, we'd set our foot on another planet, and that's really cool, but if we really want to continiue on as a space-faring race then we'd be better off racing to the moon and back, improving our engines (or whatever we'll use) until they're good enough to travel at serious speeds. Then we could start aiming for colonization of the rest of the solar system.

However, if some dude named Cochrane invents a "warp engine" shortly after WWIII, then things might change. :-D

[PMC]

@ Cecilia

It's not government agencies that will push humanity into space, but the opportunities available to private business which will provide both the necessary investment and the incentive for the human race to make the necessary steps IMHO.

The missions to the moon fascinated me as a kid, my childhood heros were people like Neil Armstrong and Alan Shepherd.  It was the defining moment in 20th Century, where something amazing was achieved for the greater good of humanity and it enriched our culture as a result.

However, the moon missions were totally at the mercy of political will, which is why we haven't returned in thirty two years.  When / if we do return and colonize the moon, it will be because there is profit to be made in doing so. Spaceship One was a private venture that netted ten million dollars in prize money, which must surely be a fraction of the total cost of development.  You can be sure that the technologies pioneered in Spaceship One will be utilized elsewhere in order to help pay for development costs...

[Speelgoedmannetje]

I think first parts of the sea are being 'terraformed'
tis the most useful thing to do: mainly considering transport, and recently also the sea can act as an energy resource. Plus, ppl want to live near water.

[cecilia]

"It's time for the human race to enter the solar system." - George W. Bush

"The future will be better tomorrow." - George W. Bush

"For NASA, space is still a high priority." - George W. Bush

:roflmao:

[gizz72]

Greetings,

Space Commerce should be develope firstly, like the one I read before somewhere when, that a Private Japanese company would establish the first 'Space Hotel' orbiting the earth. Complete with amenities like a real first class hotel minus the gravity. Though IMO, that would be quite expensive, But think of the Jacuzzi they probably have there.:-o  Hmmm... :-)

@cecilia
Maybe he's running for Emperor of United Space on the Moon. Prime minister of Mars and Leader of Teen-Titans. :crazy:

Regards,

Gizz

[cecilia]

gizz72 wrote:
@cecilia
Maybe he's running for Emperor of United Space on the Moon. Prime minister of Mars and Leader of Teen-Titans. :crazy:
 

maybe he's running for the Casey Stengel public speakers award?
:roflmao:

[PMC]

cecilia wrote:
"It's time for the human race to enter the solar system." - George W. Bush

"The future will be better tomorrow." - George W. Bush

"For NASA, space is still a high priority." - George W. Bush

Those kind of quotes coming from from a third world dictator would be quite amusing.

But coming from the president of the most powerful nation on Earth, with a finger poised above the big red button, I'm suddenly very nervous...

 :-o

[PMC]

cecilia wrote:

maybe he's running for the Casey Stengel public speakers award?
:roflmao:

Fantastic...  

Ever heard of Murray Walker? He used to commentate Formula One races on BBC and ITV.  

"His team mate's driving a car that's identical in every way except that it's completely different"

"And surely nothing can stop him now?" (as Mansell / Hill / Schumacher etc all with an unassailable lead suddenly stutter to a halt with a mechanical failure)

There are many others too...