space exploration mars

[Guest flying high]

hey guys does anyone here have any interest in space exploration there was a show on recently called cosmic odessy the case for mars all about colonizing the red planet very informative !!

 

does it strike anyone as a little odd that we went to the moon 20-30 years ago and have not ventured any further i thought the idea of space travel was to travel not hang around just outside earth and look around for a while?

 

any adventurers feel ripped off out there

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

As one who grew up in the 'Space Race" i was tantalised by all the news and media reports about what the 21st centry would offer. space travel to orbiting motels and moon bases, kick starting mars, plus all the other neat stuff star trek had to offer.

 

Do i feel ripped off? sure do, cause they wasted all the money that we should have spent on getting us off this rock on useless stuff like wars weapons and politics.

 

If we did not have people like Richard Branson and Burt Rutan things would be looking even worse for the adventurer. maybe still time for me if i can scrape up the cash.

 

No one ever mentioned how expensive space flight would be. Bugger!

 

ozzie

 

 

[Guest flying high]

fancy seeing you here ozzie we are always meeting sound like we have a lot in common i was watching the show which outlined the plan called mars express i think which basically said that they leave earth when thew planets are closest and bout a year later when mars and earth are closest again they return making the journey only 6 months in length and the stay being a lot longer not just a flag placing exercise to me the plan looked great basic using only existing material and technology but do you think the dam politicians would rather spend money on exploring new planets .....hell no they would rather spend 250 million a day to protect there oil supply in iraq.......................... its a shame as everybody thought once we got to the moon that the sky was the limit literally good to here from you as always very informative

 

 

[Guest Redair]

Is the truth out there?

 

Once upon a time, there was a planet called Mars, and a population called Martians... now the Martians were very advanced beings, and developed tools, machines and even spaceships. Sadly however the Martians were too clever for their own good, and all their industry and technology caused their atmosphere to break up. So a special few Martians were put onto spaceships which flew to the next nearest habbitable planet and began to colonise it, while their home-world turned to dust and died, The end.

 

Are we really exploring new worlds, or just going home? There are those out there who believe our ancestors were Martians... Global warming... Are we going around in circles? Who knows?

 

Redair.

 

 

[Guest flying high]

that definetly is a different angle 1 i hadn't thought of i would say no but we would never really know mars has got a lot of resources left if we had been there i reckon all its resources would be gone although it does have a lot of carbon dioxide mostly from what i know colonization is very possible but for some reason we have stalled 1 conspiracy theory could be that the reason we have stalled is because we could not really get to the moon ie "moon landing a load of rubbish and every body gave the idea away who knows but you would think we would of achieved it by now

 

 

[Seal]

Can´t say I feel ripped off because I did not contribute much to the Apollo program or to any space exploration for that matter. I do feel sad that, for 30 - 40 years, our species became totally sidetracked by immediate welfare and comfort issues and forgot about working and planning for future exploration and expansion of the alternatives available for our long term future.

 

As a society Australians have not invested in this future at all and there is no recognition that we will eventually have to venture of this particular ball of rock. Currently we seem completely unable to embrace the concept of change being a permanent fixture of our existence and have allowed those who want things to remain as their grandfathers knew them to gain the ascendancy.

 

Why we have not been back to the moon for nearly 40 years is a relatively easy question, for a variety of political and social reasons the American people lost the will to do it. The hard question is, what are we going to do to support and encourage the investment to do it again and continue on from there?

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

Manned moon landings. Remember the Apollo program was a save face after the Americans lost the first and second rounds in the space race to the Russians. It was never a race to the moon. The Russians never intended to send a human there. But by the time the Americans landed the Russians via a series of successful lunar rovers and stationary landers had completed their entire program some time before Apollo11 was lit and at probably a tenth of the cost. And this included studying the samples and rocks that the rovers had sent back. So why waste the money on an expensive life support system. Machines at the moment can do what is needed to be done. exploration, mining, manufacture. no need to send anyone to Mars until air and water supplies are in place. No short term project.

 

good chance tho that we are going 'home'. But then, maybe we are just a bunch of 'useless loonies' made up of middle men and telephone sanitizers.:big_grin:

 

 

[Guest Redair]

I think that if those who predict the dimise of this planet are to be believed, then by the time governments and the likes of NASA get their act together, there will not be enough time to build the required hardware to ship us all off to a new planet, and mere mortals like us will have to sit and watch the rich, famous and the telephone sanitizers blast off without us. Unless of course the RA Aus is forward thinking enough to introduce training and a new endorsement onto our pilot certificates of, "SS" SpaceShips!!!!

 

And as for the moon landings... have you ever wondered about those bits of film showing the Lunar lander, from the outside, before it reached the surface? How did they get the camera crew there before they arrived? Eh? Eh?

 

That's all for now, I have to go back to counting the buttons on my bouncy wall-paper.

 

Redair.

 

 

[Yenn]

First to go will be the powerful politicians. Thankfully. We can then be left to live in peace and harmony. G W Bush should have gone for a fifth birthday present.

 

 

[Guest Redair]

First to go will be the powerful politicians. Thankfully. We can then be left to live in peace and harmony. G W Bush should have gone for a fifth birthday present.

Me thinks per chance that you are confused!!! I'm sure what everyone wants, is for George Dubbya to get a rocket up his Ahhh!!!!!!! Only trouble is, there would be one hell of a fight to see who got to light the fuse!

 

Redair.

 

 

[Guest flying high]

i think the usa has bitten off a big mouth full with some of the things they are doing in the world and rome didnt last forever and neither will the usa it evolution every body gets a go a little of subject but have a look at china man are they big or what theres more chance of them getting to mars before us !!!!

 

 

[Guest High Plains Drifter]

Hmmm, space travel... its a long way.

 

Whats out there - YouTube - Hubble Deep Field: The Most Imp. Image Ever Taken (Redux)

 

...And planet size compare (turn the volume up) -

 

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=yvNhw888XmM&NR=1 it would take a long, long... long time, to fly around some of these in a Drifter

 

 

[Guest TFC]

the Utube vids were really good. It makes you give some thought to the idea that we may not be as significant as we think we are. Especially when they talk about the billions of galaxies there are. damn it is a long way to another galaxy. You might need something fasdter than a jab to get you there.

 

 

[bushpilot]

Now here's a Q for the space mathematicians out there; it's 'worried' me for many years:

 

We were taught in Science class that if you fly away from any point in space in a straight line, you eventually come back to the point you started from.. i.e. if you start off going 'East' you will re-appear from the 'West' many light years later..

 

My quandry is, if this is so, wouldn't it be possible to calculate the inherent offset from 'straight ahead' that causes this effect and compensate for it, so as to actually go in a straight line - to the limits of space??

 

And, how hard is the concept of infinity to understand?! That is, something (space) that goes on forever.. That is weird. :confused:

 

 

[Guest Redair]

And, how hard is the concept of infinity to understand?! That is, something (space) that goes on forever.. That is weird. :confused:

Yeah, maybe, but try getting to sleep at night if you consider that the universe has an end... then what's beyond? What is beyond?:confused:

 

Redair.

 

 

[Guest flying high]

you had me at hello.... ha ha theoretically it sound good east then west huh 1 thing i do have to ask about is some of the ideas about propulsion for the trip to other galaxys such as nuclear magnetic propulsion for take off there are some great ideas out there even solar is a great way a bit slow but cheap for your miles per gallon ha ha another joke very funny tonight yeh anyway if they take bhp or rio tinto with they can sell the mining rights to some of the new planets and technically it pays for the trip does anyone know how far the Chinese are of the usa and soviets in space tech as they are the ones with the open check book these days huh they have a hell of a budget overflow and alot of people to keep the cash flowing they can survive the space race for alot longer then any country