Is it april the first?!?

ic14 · 09-01-2004, 22:34

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3381531.stm
How much money will this waste.

downquark1 · 09-01-2004, 22:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by ic14

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3381531.stm
How much money will this waste.

They paid to go to the moon - why not...

I say that with a pinch of salt because we all know it was a hoax

09-01-2004, 22:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by ic14

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3381531.stm
How much money will this waste.

Not a single cent, the benefits of the sort of research that is required for these projects ripple their way down to us at some point. Besides, just because some science is expensive does that mean that we shouldn`t do it? If we took that attitude we'd still be living in the stone age.

ic14 · 09-01-2004, 22:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by downquark1

They paid to go to the moon - why not...

I say that with a pinch of salt because we all know it was a hoax

yeah... If you belive its a hoax (i sometimes think it could be) then they may fake landing on mars (like that movie forgot the name)

Xaccers · 09-01-2004, 22:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by ic14

yeah... If you belive its a hoax (i sometimes think it could be) then they may fake landing on mars (like that movie forgot the name)

Capricorn 1, fake moon landing.
Do not! I repeat. Do not! mention that you think the moon landing was a hoax in front of Buzz. The last person to do that (some slimy reporter who came up with a load of really naff ideas "proving" that the landing didn't happen to make a quick buck) had a sudden colision with Buzz's fist.

Yes they went to the moon.
Yes we got velcro and teflon and kevlar from it to name just a few.

ic14 · 09-01-2004, 22:56

OK then...

What do you think the first words should be?
I bet they will be boring. something like "we claim this land for the usa" or something lol

Iago · 09-01-2004, 22:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by dr wadd

Not a single cent, the benefits of the sort of research that is required for these projects ripple their way down to us at some point. Besides, just because some science is expensive does that mean that we shouldn`t do it? If we took that attitude we'd still be living in the stone age.

dam right, I would love for this to happen

Xaccers · 09-01-2004, 23:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by ic14

OK then...

What do you think the first words should be?
I bet they will be boring. something like "we claim this land for the usa" or something lol

No country is alowed to claim a planet.

It would probably be something like "We come, not as one nation but as one world, in the name of peace and unity"

I can't wait til we get a proper colony over there, so we can be called Terrans and they can be Martians

Of course then there will be the Terran/Martian wars over which are "true" humans... that won't be so good, but would have enough irony when considering the first words spoken on Mars

ic14 · 09-01-2004, 23:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xaccers

I can't wait til we get a proper colony over there, so we can be called Terrans and they can be Martians

Of course then there will be the Terran/Martian wars over which are "true" humans... that won't be so good, but would have enough irony when considering the first words spoken on Mars

What you like to be then? Id like to be a martian

I wonder if the net would work lol

Xaccers · 09-01-2004, 23:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by ic14

What you like to be then? Id like to be a martian

I wonder if the net would work lol

I'm a Terran.

The net would work if you extended the timouts enough

keithwalton · 09-01-2004, 23:19

It's good to see Bush at last putting some effort back behind the space program, after cutting funding so badly it could be called as unsafe, and not viable anymore.

Call my synical but i fear this is just an vote grabber the elections are coming up this year and so far he hasnt done much apart from ruin all the good work clinton did. as it says its not going to be done for at least 10 years, a few terms of office away. whoever's in charge can soon pull the plug on it.

I agree that its a good thing in principal though, nothing funds development quite like a government eager to beat its friends at doing somthing. The advances will trickle down to the wider population eventually.

K

Nor · 09-01-2004, 23:22

Its not a waste of money at all if its used in space exploration. Not too sound too melodramatic but notwithstanding all the other scientific and medical benefits from space and planet exploration, to actually find out the mysteries of our solar system is one thing that can bring humanity together.

I just think its so important we continue to push the boundaries and advance. I only wish Britain had a proper space program.

downquark1 · 09-01-2004, 23:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by keithwalton

It's good to see Bush at last putting some effort back behind the space program, after cutting funding so badly it could be called as unsafe, and not viable anymore.

Call my synical but i fear this is just an vote grabber the elections are coming up this year and so far he hasnt done much apart from ruin all the good work clinton did. as it says its not going to be done for at least 10 years, a few terms of office away. whoever's in charge can soon pull the plug on it.

I agree that its a good thing in principal though, nothing funds development quite like a government eager to beat its friends at doing somthing. The advances will trickle down to the wider population eventually.

K

Very good point - I forgot about that. For a moment I thought it was actually about science

Nor · 09-01-2004, 23:40

I can't see how its a vote winner really. Americans want their economy sorted not money spent on space exploration I'd say.

10-01-2004, 00:41

Well much as I'm in favour of space exploration I think this is a foolish idea.

The "race for the moon" is reckoned by some to have actually put space exploration *back*, rather than advanced it. Instead of developing proper re-usable space launch vehicles, money was thrown into a massive, inefficient, throw away system for the sole purpose of scoring points in the cold war.

Subsequently, once the moon was reached, there was a massive backlash against doing it again, the Apollo programme was curtailed, funding was cut and apart from the brief attempts to revive space exploration with the Apollo/Soyuz linkup and Skylab, Western space exploration got stuck in neutral.

Ok we eventually got the Shuttle, but even that was, really, a bit of a bodge job, it's also inefficient, it's re-usable, but only at massive cost and the short cuts taken to try to keep it on schedule and on budget have resulted in two tragedies.

Now, instead of working on *unmanned* systems that don't need massive burdens of life support systems, water, recycling and so on, Dubya wants to throw more money at another "prestige" project in what, to me, looks more like a cynical political ploy to grab some headlines and distract people in an election year.

I'd be much happier if politicians could keep their hands off space flight because they treat it as just some shiny toy to be played with when it suits them, then tossed aside once they've finished with it.