The Big Picture: Once Upon a Time in The Future
- Thread starter MovieBob
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That last part he said at the end about seeing the future instead of a screensaver really resonated with me. I think what happened to us is, yes, we got bored. Sure, we went to the moon, but that was over fourty years ago, now. And sure, we have the space station, but nothing nearly as viscerally thrilling as the moon landing has really occurred since then. In that time a generation has reached middle-age, and we, their children, haven't seen anything quite that monumental since then.
I think we've just been jaded from all of this inactivity. We've been talking about Mars for, what 20 years now? I've barely been alive that long. It's hot, then it's cold. We're going to Mars, and then we're not going to Mars. All of these plans for advancement have been so flaky recently that it doesn't seem worth it anymore. We've talked about it for so long it's lost its appeal.
And to me, that is incredibly, incredibly sad. Somehow, the final frontier is just not thrilling enough anymore. I mean, where would we be if Columbus had gotten bored with the idea of sailing to the new world? Or if Lewis and Clark just didn't feel like exploring the western wilderness?
I think we've just been jaded from all of this inactivity. We've been talking about Mars for, what 20 years now? I've barely been alive that long. It's hot, then it's cold. We're going to Mars, and then we're not going to Mars. All of these plans for advancement have been so flaky recently that it doesn't seem worth it anymore. We've talked about it for so long it's lost its appeal.
And to me, that is incredibly, incredibly sad. Somehow, the final frontier is just not thrilling enough anymore. I mean, where would we be if Columbus had gotten bored with the idea of sailing to the new world? Or if Lewis and Clark just didn't feel like exploring the western wilderness?
You are FAR from the only one. I am absolutely obsessed with space, and the entire idea of interplanetary colonization fills me with wonder, hope, and AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW YEAH!!!!!!!!!
Fuck the poor. No, I don't mean that. But let's face it, since when did the poor get in the way with making cool shit? Since when do people actually do something about the problems Earth is facing instead of just complaining about them? The answer: very little for both.
So why not expand? We're doing it with technology already; why not do it to technology that matters. Like it or not, space exploration will be MANDATORY for future survival. Hell, what about those mineral rich asteroids circling around the sun? I think we could solve a few problems with diminishing resources if we started sticking buildings on the bigger ones.
The entire concept of building a structure on the moon or Mars gets me giddy. When they announced Constellation was to be disbanded, I was devastated. If I ever become the US president (I won't), I'm taking money out of education and all that boring shit and putting it into space travel. I'm also going to act really liberal until the Republicans start getting pissed. Then I'm going to act really conservative. Don't ever elect me president.
Screw China and India. America got to the moon first, and we should get to Mars first. We own the moon already (there's a flag on it; I think that constitutes ownership), so we should probably start building stuff on it before someone else does.
Fuck the poor. No, I don't mean that. But let's face it, since when did the poor get in the way with making cool shit? Since when do people actually do something about the problems Earth is facing instead of just complaining about them? The answer: very little for both.
So why not expand? We're doing it with technology already; why not do it to technology that matters. Like it or not, space exploration will be MANDATORY for future survival. Hell, what about those mineral rich asteroids circling around the sun? I think we could solve a few problems with diminishing resources if we started sticking buildings on the bigger ones.
The entire concept of building a structure on the moon or Mars gets me giddy. When they announced Constellation was to be disbanded, I was devastated. If I ever become the US president (I won't), I'm taking money out of education and all that boring shit and putting it into space travel. I'm also going to act really liberal until the Republicans start getting pissed. Then I'm going to act really conservative. Don't ever elect me president.
Screw China and India. America got to the moon first, and we should get to Mars first. We own the moon already (there's a flag on it; I think that constitutes ownership), so we should probably start building stuff on it before someone else does.
The thing is there is no reason for us to go to the moon or Mars. There aren't any natural resources worth spending billions of dollars to obtain. Unfortunately that's what make the world go round. If there was something up there that is worth all that money spent, then we would have colonized the moon years ago.
I think its cause we got impatient. we started to think that it would never happen in our lifetimes so we stop caring. we think that because by the time we're old and wrinkly that at most we'll have set up a sort of data post on the moon which will gather data on stuff like the atmosphere on earth. I agreee, i would go for the city on mars, world peace was never meant to happen since war is how we keep the population down at a safe number
[HEADING=1]What the hell? Are you guys kidding me?[/HEADING]
The reason the constellation program was cancelled was because it was a useless bloated money hole that would spend 25 years building antiquated technology and cumulate in sending a few astronauts to the moon to do jack diddily squat other than pose for a few photo ops that america can wave around to prove its superiority to the rest of the world. By the time they go to mars most people here would be in their 60s or 70s, and it would just be a meaningless touch & go mission anyway. the Constellation program was 9 years old and so behind schedule, underfunded and over budget that meeting any of its goals wouldn't be possible.
The program that replaced it seems far more optimistic to me. Instead of just simple exploration, it involves A Flexible Path to inner solar system locations, such as lunar orbit, Lagrange points, near-Earth objects and the moons of Mars, followed by exploration of the lunar surface and/or Martian surfaces, a systematic expansion into space. including cost-effective HLVs (Heavy lift vehicles, e.g. space elevators)more robust spacestations and engineering facilities, a focus on Interplanetary spaceflight, and a stated goal of placing colonies, not just expeditions, but colonies, on the Moon, Mars, Phobos and Deimos.
The fact is cancelling the constellation program has not only upped the chance of significant space exploration within our lifetimes, it's insanely upped the chance the portion of the general population will experience it.
The reason the constellation program was cancelled was because it was a useless bloated money hole that would spend 25 years building antiquated technology and cumulate in sending a few astronauts to the moon to do jack diddily squat other than pose for a few photo ops that america can wave around to prove its superiority to the rest of the world. By the time they go to mars most people here would be in their 60s or 70s, and it would just be a meaningless touch & go mission anyway. the Constellation program was 9 years old and so behind schedule, underfunded and over budget that meeting any of its goals wouldn't be possible.
The program that replaced it seems far more optimistic to me. Instead of just simple exploration, it involves A Flexible Path to inner solar system locations, such as lunar orbit, Lagrange points, near-Earth objects and the moons of Mars, followed by exploration of the lunar surface and/or Martian surfaces, a systematic expansion into space. including cost-effective HLVs (Heavy lift vehicles, e.g. space elevators)more robust spacestations and engineering facilities, a focus on Interplanetary spaceflight, and a stated goal of placing colonies, not just expeditions, but colonies, on the Moon, Mars, Phobos and Deimos.
The fact is cancelling the constellation program has not only upped the chance of significant space exploration within our lifetimes, it's insanely upped the chance the portion of the general population will experience it.
This is in response to you talking about the TV shows, it's pathetic really, hat people would rather watch trash then intelligent shows that make you think, disgustingBlueInkAlchemist said:
That is true, however the Moon and Mars offer us something that we are slowly running out of here on Earth: square footage. If we can find a feasible way to have people travel to live there and be self-sufficient, it is very possible for full-sized colonies to live there. And with the vast square footage Mars has to offer, we can significantly ease up on real estate here and let our natural resources replenish themselves.eldera1 said:
That is very far into the future, but as they say, the journey of a thousand miles begins with one, single step. And if we stop taking steps, we're never going to get there. Then we can solve overpopulation with some other lovely systems...like federally mandated birth limits, or mass murders.
The problem with Space Travel is that it's hard.
Not tough hard.
Not even Nintendo hard.
We're talking obscenely hard. And with nothing to find except dreams.
See, it's not even about the toughness of getting into space - which is tough like MarioKart 150cc.
Or getting back from Space, which is tough like R-Type when you lose your powerups.
It's staying in Space, which is killing you faster than IWBTG on Nightmare. See, everything out there is not Earth, so it wants to eat you alive.
But it's still a dream.
You may have noticed recently that dreams are coming second to facts and WAY behind feelings.
See, what we're really focussing on, in today's programme, is FEELINGS.
Why Debbie here still loves Chad, despite him punching her in the face; and why Chad feels it should be his right to.
Coming up later on we have people waffling about some foreigners dying somewhere.
And then, when we don't have time for any infomercials, something about how we're supposed to save the human race - but on the other side it's the finals of Eggs Factor, so skip the boring life saving and let's go straight to stoning drug-users for threatening the lives of our unborn children.
And here's Oprah with her sponsored gift programme!
Space Travel requires us to act as a society. We're not capable of acting like a family at Thanksgiving/Xmas at the moment.
Not tough hard.
Not even Nintendo hard.
We're talking obscenely hard. And with nothing to find except dreams.
See, it's not even about the toughness of getting into space - which is tough like MarioKart 150cc.
Or getting back from Space, which is tough like R-Type when you lose your powerups.
It's staying in Space, which is killing you faster than IWBTG on Nightmare. See, everything out there is not Earth, so it wants to eat you alive.
But it's still a dream.
You may have noticed recently that dreams are coming second to facts and WAY behind feelings.
See, what we're really focussing on, in today's programme, is FEELINGS.
Why Debbie here still loves Chad, despite him punching her in the face; and why Chad feels it should be his right to.
Coming up later on we have people waffling about some foreigners dying somewhere.
And then, when we don't have time for any infomercials, something about how we're supposed to save the human race - but on the other side it's the finals of Eggs Factor, so skip the boring life saving and let's go straight to stoning drug-users for threatening the lives of our unborn children.
And here's Oprah with her sponsored gift programme!
Space Travel requires us to act as a society. We're not capable of acting like a family at Thanksgiving/Xmas at the moment.
I got one question for you Bob. What would be more pathetic? Meeting a new race of aliens in the USS Mountain Dew, or having them ask us what Earth is like, and trying to explain the current mess? Yes, that's just another way to ask the questions you already mentioned in the video, but it's true. As a species, we're in no shape to be exploring the galaxy. We're still trying to find the right people to make a 9 month trip to Mars without killing each other.
Oh come ON.
That was by far the most disagreeable, and I'd be ALMOST willing to say, the most *stupid* thing I've ever heard you say so far, Bob. Are you seriously so captivated by some arbitrary idea of mankind's progress that you don't realize there's nothing really IN space, or at least nothing in the vicinity? I wouldn't necessary condemn that notion since we're bound to run out of raw materials at one point and we'll have to travel beyond Earth depending on circumstances. But how do you imagine humanity could possibly sustain itself in space while still drowning in problems back on Earth? What POINT would there be simply trasport ourselves in such a state into space? To spread the misery? Into the infinite black void? Do you know how ridiculously commonplace and meaningless it would soon feel?
I'm sorry, but you've spent too much time pushing your goody-goody morality onto us all, and dropping a bomb like this just seems contradictory. Not even I with my nihilistic and misanthropic nature would go for it. I can't discuss this, it's just preposterous.
That was by far the most disagreeable, and I'd be ALMOST willing to say, the most *stupid* thing I've ever heard you say so far, Bob. Are you seriously so captivated by some arbitrary idea of mankind's progress that you don't realize there's nothing really IN space, or at least nothing in the vicinity? I wouldn't necessary condemn that notion since we're bound to run out of raw materials at one point and we'll have to travel beyond Earth depending on circumstances. But how do you imagine humanity could possibly sustain itself in space while still drowning in problems back on Earth? What POINT would there be simply trasport ourselves in such a state into space? To spread the misery? Into the infinite black void? Do you know how ridiculously commonplace and meaningless it would soon feel?
I'm sorry, but you've spent too much time pushing your goody-goody morality onto us all, and dropping a bomb like this just seems contradictory. Not even I with my nihilistic and misanthropic nature would go for it. I can't discuss this, it's just preposterous.
I just want to add two things. First, thank you Bob for articulating this. The Escapist may not be the most public forum on the planet, but there is something to be said for raising awareness. And since gamer/geek culture is fairly widespread in that all-important youth demographic, maybe if enough young people tell the politicians that this stuff matters, they'll get the message.
Second, it's worse than you know. For the last two years I worked as an aerospace engineer. In the summer when my program ended I was laid off, and since then it has been very difficult to find work in the industry. I attribute this to fallout from the Constellation cancellation. My job wasn't cut because Constellation ended, but as my manager told me at my exit interview, "the entire aerospace industry is shrinking." Think about that. What President Obama and his cohorts in Congress didn't realize is that when they cut Constellation, not only were they going to get a lot of people at NASA fired (which did happen, including in my town), they were sending shockwaves throughout all the aerospace/missile defense industry. Guys like me ended up out of work, I strongly believe, because now everyone's nervous as to where the next cut is going to fall. They're hanging onto their funding, not continuing old projects or starting new ones, just trying to survive.
The end result is a very disturbing trend I've seen as part of my own job search. I'm young, have an advanced degree, two years of industry experience, and I can't find a job. When I go to job fairs I see a lot, I mean a LOT, of older folks looking for jobs. I can't compete against them experience-wise, but even THEY can't find jobs. And these are the people with families to support. If things don't get better soon, then all those mid-level workers laid off from NASA are going to have to flee the industry just to make ends meet. Then when we decide, as a country, that we actually WANT a space program we're going to find that we simply don't have the people for it anymore.
The senior level folks in aerospace are going to be retiring soon. The mid-level folks who are laid off now are going to find jobs in another field, and not be around the contribute to either the space program or the development of younger co-workers. The young guys like me might have to wait a few more years before jobs appear, putting a great big hold on developing industry experience. And as for the the really new people? What high school guidance counselor or college adviser is going to recommend a career in aerospace right now when there aren't any jobs?
I hope I'm wrong, but I suspect in a few years we're going to wake up one day and wonder where all our engineers went. We let the old guys retire, laid off the mid-levels, and didn't bother to train/promote any new ones. That's why the dream of space is going to die. So again, thank you Bob for raising awareness, and I hope everyone reading this far will write your Congressman and tell them you care about space.
Second, it's worse than you know. For the last two years I worked as an aerospace engineer. In the summer when my program ended I was laid off, and since then it has been very difficult to find work in the industry. I attribute this to fallout from the Constellation cancellation. My job wasn't cut because Constellation ended, but as my manager told me at my exit interview, "the entire aerospace industry is shrinking." Think about that. What President Obama and his cohorts in Congress didn't realize is that when they cut Constellation, not only were they going to get a lot of people at NASA fired (which did happen, including in my town), they were sending shockwaves throughout all the aerospace/missile defense industry. Guys like me ended up out of work, I strongly believe, because now everyone's nervous as to where the next cut is going to fall. They're hanging onto their funding, not continuing old projects or starting new ones, just trying to survive.
The end result is a very disturbing trend I've seen as part of my own job search. I'm young, have an advanced degree, two years of industry experience, and I can't find a job. When I go to job fairs I see a lot, I mean a LOT, of older folks looking for jobs. I can't compete against them experience-wise, but even THEY can't find jobs. And these are the people with families to support. If things don't get better soon, then all those mid-level workers laid off from NASA are going to have to flee the industry just to make ends meet. Then when we decide, as a country, that we actually WANT a space program we're going to find that we simply don't have the people for it anymore.
The senior level folks in aerospace are going to be retiring soon. The mid-level folks who are laid off now are going to find jobs in another field, and not be around the contribute to either the space program or the development of younger co-workers. The young guys like me might have to wait a few more years before jobs appear, putting a great big hold on developing industry experience. And as for the the really new people? What high school guidance counselor or college adviser is going to recommend a career in aerospace right now when there aren't any jobs?
I hope I'm wrong, but I suspect in a few years we're going to wake up one day and wonder where all our engineers went. We let the old guys retire, laid off the mid-levels, and didn't bother to train/promote any new ones. That's why the dream of space is going to die. So again, thank you Bob for raising awareness, and I hope everyone reading this far will write your Congressman and tell them you care about space.
What's really sad is that development of space travel could potentially solve a lot of these problems like world hunger, over population etc. After all, if we actually managed to achieve interstellar travel, we'd have access to nearly infinite resources to feed the hungry, places to live etc.
...Private sector space programs. *facepalm* That's one way to ensure first contact goes badly.
...Private sector space programs. *facepalm* That's one way to ensure first contact goes badly.
Well, the reason that people aren't caring is because of a lack of optitism for the future right now.MovieBob said:
If you look back to the peaks of both Science fiction and space exploration, they always came out in a time when the future looked bright, or at least we felt good about ourselves. The technology that allowed man to get to space only became viable right after World War 2 when America was it baby booming years, everybody had a job, everyone's father was a war hero, and it seamed obvious that America would last forever. Thus, it seamed like space wouldn't be that far off and everybody. Take note this is the time that Star Trek and a huge load of your favorite pop-science fiction novelists/comics were in their hayday.
This glee died after we landed because of the cold war, Watergate, the tail of the sixties, the realization that Vietnam wasn't a happy sunshine war were America beat the enemy that John Wayne movies had portrayed WW2 as, the introduction of AIDS, and the mistrust of the goverment. Now this is when science fiction fell out of favor to 70's disaster movies.
The rise again of the space shuttle came in the 80's and 90's when one, Star Wars made films fun again, and the Cold War was winding down. The lack of war or a great threat made historians say it was "the end of history," and stating that we shall forever have peace. That is when Star Trek was brought back for Next Generation, Star Wars was updated (for better or worse) and the future looked BRIGHT again. And the future meant space.
But now we live in post-911 America were nobody trusts the goverment, we been in the two most miserable wars we had since Nam for an entire decade now, everybody is an enemy, and the world is a dark place. If you look at popular media right now, and ignore the reality garbage boom for a moment, a lot of media is depressing tails of war, death, and the like (why most video games have "Brown End of the World" scenery as a default). We are not optomistic, were are not looking at the future, but at the now.
I hate to break this to you, but space is boring.
We went to the moon and we found nothing. If we go to Mars, we will find nothing. Build more advanced telescopes, launch probes, but let's not waste our time with manned missions because they're a dangrous waste of time, human life and resources.
And people might call me a soulless cynic when I say this, but mankind will never colonize space. Sure, we'll try, but we'll always fall back to Earth.
We went to the moon and we found nothing. If we go to Mars, we will find nothing. Build more advanced telescopes, launch probes, but let's not waste our time with manned missions because they're a dangrous waste of time, human life and resources.
And people might call me a soulless cynic when I say this, but mankind will never colonize space. Sure, we'll try, but we'll always fall back to Earth.
You know, when I first saw the title of this episode, I was thinking to myself "This doesn't look video game/comic book/geek related, so no one's going to care as much". And wouldn't you know it, that's exactly what you said in your video.
But it DOES sounds like something geeks would care about. Hell, I'm pissed off about it, and I only just heard about it. From you! After watching your video! What the Hell, they're giving up on space exploration?!
But it DOES sounds like something geeks would care about. Hell, I'm pissed off about it, and I only just heard about it. From you! After watching your video! What the Hell, they're giving up on space exploration?!
If he can't complain then how does he do his job?GHudston said:While I agree with a lot of what you are saying, Bob. (Although, I'm not sure how space travel and world peace interfere with each other in the first place...) I have to disagree with the part where you say that humanity hasn't given you any special measure of kindness.
Your JOB is to rant on the internet. You don't get to complain!
We WILL colonize space! in a few billion years when the sun blows up and we REALLY have to get out! Because the human race can achieve anything with a large enough blowtorch in the ass. if not we will set our goals on the new Iphone or something equally meaningless...Casual Shinji said: