The Big Picture: Once Upon a Time in The Future
- Thread starter MovieBob
- Start date
It makes me sad to hear that there wont be a real effort to move to space. I mean, I remember when everyone said going to a new planet as the last ditch effort if our planet went to shits. BUt its not even that. its more about how as a kid I read about going to space, and now its just not happening. Or doesnt seem like it at least.
I am ashamed.. I hadn't known about this until now 
This just goes to show that I don't pay nearly enough attention to the news as I should... But yeah.. The loss of the US space program is a terrible one.. And one that makes me ashamed to be an American..
This just goes to show that I don't pay nearly enough attention to the news as I should... But yeah.. The loss of the US space program is a terrible one.. And one that makes me ashamed to be an American..
I was under the impression the only thing being stopped was the shuttles being sent to the moon. I mean, we have been there tons of times before and there isnt anything new coming from up there. And Nasa essentially needs newer fuels and to find faster ways to travel to get further into space. So Nasa isnt just not gonna be around, they are going to keep things grounded while we figure out what the truck were doing up there, rather than putsing around picking up moon rocks...
or so i heard from someone...
or so i heard from someone...
Who said private investment was bad? But I don't see any of those private investors going to Mars, hell, they're barely even talking about the moon. They also aren't talking about anything like pure science missions, and certainly not purely exploratory work. How long would it have taken to settle North America without purely exploratory voyages, funded by guess who, the crown. We'll go to space with private money when there is money to be made, but there won't be money to be made until we explore, and actually know how to operate in space.Aulleas123 said:
This only sounds like a chicken egg problem. We know the answer, and we solved it for satellites, and for exploring the planet we live on. Nothing is different about deep space exploration, some things need the government to do them, not because no one else can, or ever will, but because no one else can do it first, with no immediate expectation of financial return.
Two real reasons space is no longer a priority..
1. It isn't an issue about general welfare anymore, it is about the trillions of dollars of debt the USA is in.
2. No "evil Soviets" around to "beat."
If your argument really looked at the big picture then you would argue that the real disgrace is that all of western society, including the USA, is just too complacent to get hyped about anything as epic as sending humans to Mars. Eastern society is on the upswing and they are going through the same phases as the post-war allied nations.
1. It isn't an issue about general welfare anymore, it is about the trillions of dollars of debt the USA is in.
2. No "evil Soviets" around to "beat."
If your argument really looked at the big picture then you would argue that the real disgrace is that all of western society, including the USA, is just too complacent to get hyped about anything as epic as sending humans to Mars. Eastern society is on the upswing and they are going through the same phases as the post-war allied nations.
Sigh.
The fucked up thing is, the space race? Brought us most of the foundation of all the really awesome technology we use today.
The fucked up thing is, the space race? Brought us most of the foundation of all the really awesome technology we use today.
Hey Bob,
As a student of physics and astrophysics, I feel for you. I too grew (and am still, to an extent, growing) up with Captains Kirk, Picard, Janeway, Sisko, Archer, Kirk (again), Hari Seldon, Ford Prefect, and Zaphod Beeblebrox, and would love to venture forth into the final frontier within my lifetime. Part of the problem is that the scientific community as a whole doesn't see much worth in it. The conception and experimentation of General Relativity, Hawking radiation, Standard Model, and even the principles that allowed us to launch the rockets and shuttles were all carried through to their logical conclusion (or at least their practical conclusion) on Earth or without much human intervention in space. Most of the enlightening data doesn't need human involvement to be gathered, here or in space. To be honest, it never really was pertinent to have humans venture forth scientifically speaking. It was mostly a PR/nationalism campaign, an attempt to get our parents to embrace America and embrace science. Perhaps fortunately, the PR of the scientifically community today (as weak as it is) is more focused on the wonder of science and the world that rational reasoning can provide. That, I believe, is a more accurate and secure way of bringing science to the public in lieu of instilling delusions of becoming an astronaut.
The more pressing problem is that American society's interest in science has waned heavily. Without an intellectual foe for us to fear and conquer and with trivial inconsequences like physical attractiveness, wealth, and fame being our incentives, we really have no interest in pursuing scientific endeavors. Perhaps it has always been like this (the nerd stereotype has existed for a while and is still, on the whole, accepted) and we were momentarily relieved of it, or perhaps it is a new phenomenon. It is a problem, however, and I personally would like to hear your take on this similar-yet-more-general topic next week. Anyway, done pontificating.
As a student of physics and astrophysics, I feel for you. I too grew (and am still, to an extent, growing) up with Captains Kirk, Picard, Janeway, Sisko, Archer, Kirk (again), Hari Seldon, Ford Prefect, and Zaphod Beeblebrox, and would love to venture forth into the final frontier within my lifetime. Part of the problem is that the scientific community as a whole doesn't see much worth in it. The conception and experimentation of General Relativity, Hawking radiation, Standard Model, and even the principles that allowed us to launch the rockets and shuttles were all carried through to their logical conclusion (or at least their practical conclusion) on Earth or without much human intervention in space. Most of the enlightening data doesn't need human involvement to be gathered, here or in space. To be honest, it never really was pertinent to have humans venture forth scientifically speaking. It was mostly a PR/nationalism campaign, an attempt to get our parents to embrace America and embrace science. Perhaps fortunately, the PR of the scientifically community today (as weak as it is) is more focused on the wonder of science and the world that rational reasoning can provide. That, I believe, is a more accurate and secure way of bringing science to the public in lieu of instilling delusions of becoming an astronaut.
The more pressing problem is that American society's interest in science has waned heavily. Without an intellectual foe for us to fear and conquer and with trivial inconsequences like physical attractiveness, wealth, and fame being our incentives, we really have no interest in pursuing scientific endeavors. Perhaps it has always been like this (the nerd stereotype has existed for a while and is still, on the whole, accepted) and we were momentarily relieved of it, or perhaps it is a new phenomenon. It is a problem, however, and I personally would like to hear your take on this similar-yet-more-general topic next week. Anyway, done pontificating.
I hear yah Bob. I think a part of the decline in interest is the advent of the net. With that perpetual universe of information at their fingertips, people are spending time exploring in ways that are relevant to their own lives. Space travel/exploration/colonization won't become a big deal until my kids' kids have to start dragging comets into orbit to supplement Earth's exhausted fresh water. *wink*
that's right bob, fuck all of those resources we need, and the fact that we wouldn't be able to keep the project going too long before running out of those same resources, not to mention all of that money that they could be spending on developing better technology or using to help others, we don't need that.
bob, why does this mean so much if anything? we don't need to explore space, we have plenty of undiscovered fronts on earth, mybe if you read any article recently in the escapist you would see new technology prospects looming up.
Edit: I made this post while watching the video and getting as far as I could before it pissed me off, after watching the rest of the video, WHY THE FUCK WOULD WE TRY TO GO SOMEWHERE WE CAN'T POSSIBLY REACH YET BOB? We don't have any way of terraforming mars, we don't have any way of reaching another habitable planet within our lifetime, and we don't have the technology and resources to get there through any failed attempts! Not to mention you parade writers (good writers) around as if they could have magically solved this problem already. You might as well call this show "From only one angle."
Another Edit: This is just sad, I was reading these comments, there are people here who are worse than bob, I guess all of the people who can think up multiple angles on one subject have already left, as will I, goodbye bob, you used to be great, when will somebody once mighty stop falling?
bob, why does this mean so much if anything? we don't need to explore space, we have plenty of undiscovered fronts on earth, mybe if you read any article recently in the escapist you would see new technology prospects looming up.
Edit: I made this post while watching the video and getting as far as I could before it pissed me off, after watching the rest of the video, WHY THE FUCK WOULD WE TRY TO GO SOMEWHERE WE CAN'T POSSIBLY REACH YET BOB? We don't have any way of terraforming mars, we don't have any way of reaching another habitable planet within our lifetime, and we don't have the technology and resources to get there through any failed attempts! Not to mention you parade writers (good writers) around as if they could have magically solved this problem already. You might as well call this show "From only one angle."
Another Edit: This is just sad, I was reading these comments, there are people here who are worse than bob, I guess all of the people who can think up multiple angles on one subject have already left, as will I, goodbye bob, you used to be great, when will somebody once mighty stop falling?
Very true. I for one only heard about this last space shuttle launch today. That's twenty three days after it's happened. My countries media is more obsessed with X-Factor (think American Idol, only more dumbed down and homogeonised, it's like a great heaping gloop of terrible) than with anything relevant.BlueInkAlchemist said:
I'm not sure what pisses me off more. The fact that I won't be seeing attempts at Mars colonisation in my lifetime, or the fact that I only heard about the last space shuttle launch through the opinion vlog of a man who writes for a gaming website.
Either way - humanity be fucked.
I'm willing to put good money on Richard Branson or his company being the first to send people up to colonise the moon. Seems like the sort of thing he'd be into.
Although I have my doubts about a ship called the Virgin Enterprise, sounds more like a dating website for lonely losers.