OK, perhaps there is some hope for this place yet. Perhaps things have changed around here since that thread I started way back in 2004. I hope so, because some (not all) of the responses back then were hopelessly ignorant.
It's not out of ignorance, nor do we accept the tag, "ignoramus".
Some of us are disgusted with NASA and view it as just another government entity, bloated and ineffective, a place where defense contractors go to make some extra pocket change.
My use of the terms "ignorance" and "ignoramus" referred to my experience in that 2004 thread. It looks like you were not around here at that time. Neither was anyone else who has commented here on this thread, at least so far.
"Government entity, bloated and ineffective..." You'll have no problem convincing me that we don't need any more of those. I mistrust the Govt, and I sincerely believe we have too damn much of it now. I don't want to get any more political than that.
I will say that there are some things that Govt does do well, and so far at least, NASA is a shining example of that. Now I do believe there are plenty of problems of all types embedded at NASA. It is a Govt run bureaucracy after all. The point is NASA has set the foundation for humans in space. Only baby steps for sure, but there are literally countless scientific discoveries that can be credited to the folks at NASA.
Does NASA need reform? Absolutely. Let's try not to throw the baby out with the bathwater though, alright?
What's your vision for the future?
Some ridiculous notion of colonizing our solar system?
Oh boy, here we go again. This kind of statement is exactly what I meant when I said "shock and utter, utter disappointment." It's not that the statement is ignorant. Its that the statement comes from someone whom I assume is actually an SF fan. Someone who should know what is really meant by a term like "vision for the future".
Ridiculous notion of colonizing our solar system? Arthur C Clarke. Larry Niven. Issac Asimov. Ian Banks. Do I really have to go on? All of these fine visionaries and outstanding authors would know exactly what I meant by this statement...
"colonizing the Solar System and beyond is the destination and salvation of mankind."
Why exactly you think this idea is a "ridiculous notion" is hard for me to understand, especially coming from a fellow SF fan? I happen to think attitudes like that, if they are hard and fast ideas that are set in concrete, are actually a lot more ridiculous than my own attitude.
Whatever for?.. and where are we to get the money?.. in case you haven't been keeping up we're 14 Trillion dollars in debt, and counting.
There are literally thousands of reasons for humans to continue exploring space. I'll give you just two here, but probably the two most important:
Energy- All the power humans could ever need is just 200 miles away, above our atmosphere, in the form of solar radiation. We need to get UP there to get it though.
Survival- All our DNA eggs are in this one basket here on Earth. The next time some asteroid or comet falls into an orbit intersecting with Earth, I want us to be able to do something about it. Or we go the same way the dinosaurs went out.
The money. Hell yeah, we don't have it or at least the Govt. doesn't. Does that mean we should just give up on Space Exploration? Hell no. Now that NASA and others have taken the first baby steps, other entities, commercial interests, perhaps coalitions with many other countries sharing the load, can build upon what NASA has learned and push forward.
Think long term here Sparrow. You are thinking short term and therefore can't see the forest because all the trees are in the way.
When you say the destination is beyond the Solar System exactly what do you mean by that? The closest star is 4.3 light years away and scientists expect that it is not of the type to support organic life as we know it. Do you really think NASA is up to that heady task, building a spaceship that could be in transit for decades to a star system that probably doesn't support life. Using the Space Shuttle as a yardstick I wouldn't let NASA change the oil in my car much less colonize planets.
I said our
destiny ,not "destination" and there is a world of difference between the terms. I think I've given you at least a sense of what I mean by
our destiny in my answers so far.
Yes the stars are a long, long way from us. Does that mean that we should never ever attempt to even try to reach them? Yes of course not next year, but how about 10 years from now? 25 years? 50 years? 200 years from now? You might say we''ll never make it that far. Well, we sure as hell will not make it that far if we don't solve problems like energy generation, or we get nailed by a comet. Which just helps prove my point that
colonizing the Solar System and beyond is the destination and salvation of mankind.
Bashing the Space Shuttle is getting tiresome as well. Yes, there are many flaws, I agree with the points made here about that system. Still, I think the science gained through the over 100 Missions of the Space Shuttle more then outweigh the Shuttles' many shortcomings. Hubble is just one outstanding example of the type of science I mean.
What's on the Moon that has you so ga-ga?
We didn't go to the Moon to explore it or as some lofty endeavor to better humanity. It was more about political gamesmanship and beating the Soviets to the prize. When we finally arrived on the Moon one of the first things done was to plant a god damn flag in the ground.
Again, very shortsighted opinion here, Sparrow, disappointing really. Is that really all you think we did while we were on the moon? Sure there was some political gamesmanship there, but we gained a lot of knowledge about the moon and Earth from those missions. I've gone on long enough here, but if you do just a tiny amount of research, you will discover that we gained a lot of scientific knowledge from those moon missions. Certainly a lot more value to those Apollo landings then just the mundane planting of a flag...
