[solvegas]

From one of the Apollo missions from 50 years ago. 

[Shadowmuse Blown]

A post considering current events

[solvegas]

A diagram of where the farthest man made object is located, Voyager 1, launched in 1977 AND STILL in service. 

[TheZookie007]

A UK-based media company, S.E.E. says it plans to launch a large, spherical module to the ISS in 2024 to be used in filmmaking, sports and other activities. This “Space Arena Module” will be attached to the commercial Axiom space module.

The Axiom module is seen to the left of the sphere.

Wasn't there a rumour that the next Mission: Impossible movie was going to be set in space somehow? And then The Fast and The Furious franchise beat them to it?

[TheZookie007]

Ask a Spaceman!: "Brown Dwarf Stars are Just Plain Weird"

[solvegas]

Voyager 2.

[Shadowmuse Blown]

Another ”dot” pic:

Earth shot by Cassini in 2013

[TheZookie007]

Another ”dot” pic:

Earth shot by Cassini in 2013

Breathtaking!

[solvegas]

I remember seeing this on TV when I was 13 years old. It was on CBS with Walter Cronkite in black and white and it was fuzzy looking but then the sharpness of TVs in those days wasn't very good. Anyways, it's a shame we didn't go to Mars soon after. 

[TheZookie007]

I remember seeing this on TV when I was 13 years old. It was on CBS with Walter Cronkite in black and white and it was fuzzy looking but then the sharpness of TVs in those days wasn't very good. Anyways, it's a shame we didn't go to Mars soon after. 

We didn't have the technology nor the political will to organize a trip to Mars in the late-60s/early-70s. Even now, more than 50 years later, we're only just able to have the infrastructure to accomplish that.

Unpopular opinion: as much as I love space and space exploration, the time, money, and resources that certain people are putting towards "colonizing Mars" (I hate the sound and implications of that phrase) would be better used in securing the ecological and environmental future of the only known planet in the entire universe that can sustain humankind: Terra. We don't get to decide to trash this place and move on to another planet to trash.

[solvegas]

I remember seeing this on TV when I was 13 years old. It was on CBS with Walter Cronkite in black and white and it was fuzzy looking but then the sharpness of TVs in those days wasn't very good. Anyways, it's a shame we didn't go to Mars soon after. 

We didn't have the technology nor the political will to organize a trip to Mars in the late-60s/early-70s. Even now, more than 50 years later, we're only just able to have the infrastructure to accomplish that.

Unpopular opinion: as much as I love space and space exploration, the time, money, and resources that certain people are putting towards "colonizing Mars" (I hate the sound and implications of that phrase) would be better used in securing the ecological and environmental future of the only known planet in the entire universe that can sustain humankind: Terra. We don't get to decide to trash this place and move on to another planet to trash.

Thoroughly disagree. You should never put ALL of your eggs in one basket. We should colonize other spatial bodies if able. As of now, if a 6 mile wide meteorite which killed off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago hit our Earth, our planet's environment would be ruined for eons and we would all likely be dead. But if we spread ourselves around, our species would survive and perhaps recreate our ruined planet. Also, colonize is the proper word.

[TheZookie007]

I remember seeing this on TV when I was 13 years old. It was on CBS with Walter Cronkite in black and white and it was fuzzy looking but then the sharpness of TVs in those days wasn't very good. Anyways, it's a shame we didn't go to Mars soon after. 

We didn't have the technology nor the political will to organize a trip to Mars in the late-60s/early-70s. Even now, more than 50 years later, we're only just able to have the infrastructure to accomplish that.

Unpopular opinion: as much as I love space and space exploration, the time, money, and resources that certain people are putting towards "colonizing Mars" (I hate the sound and implications of that phrase) would be better used in securing the ecological and environmental future of the only known planet in the entire universe that can sustain humankind: Terra. We don't get to decide to trash this place and move on to another planet to trash.

Thoroughly disagree. You should never put ALL of your eggs in one basket. We should colonize other spatial bodies if able. As of now, if a 6 mile wide meteorite which killed off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago hit our Earth, our planet's environment would be ruined for eons and we would all likely be dead. But if we spread ourselves around, our species would survive and perhaps recreate our ruined planet. Also, colonize is the proper word.

We haven't stabilized the situation on the one planet where we know for sure there are the conditions to maintain life. We have all the means to do so, yet we're wrecking our environment. So then after destroying it we want to hop off to another planet to plunder that one too? Colonization is inevitably destructive. Just ask the Taino, or the inhabitants of the Amazon. What we should be doing is conserving and improving what we have here, right now, while we still can. You don't ruin your main residence and then start looking for a vacation home.

[Shadowmuse Blown]

I remember seeing this on TV when I was 13 years old. It was on CBS with Walter Cronkite in black and white and it was fuzzy looking but then the sharpness of TVs in those days wasn't very good. Anyways, it's a shame we didn't go to Mars soon after. 

We didn't have the technology nor the political will to organize a trip to Mars in the late-60s/early-70s. Even now, more than 50 years later, we're only just able to have the infrastructure to accomplish that.

Unpopular opinion: as much as I love space and space exploration, the time, money, and resources that certain people are putting towards "colonizing Mars" (I hate the sound and implications of that phrase) would be better used in securing the ecological and environmental future of the only known planet in the entire universe that can sustain humankind: Terra. We don't get to decide to trash this place and move on to another planet to trash.

Thoroughly disagree. You should never put ALL of your eggs in one basket. We should colonize other spatial bodies if able. As of now, if a 6 mile wide meteorite which killed off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago hit our Earth, our planet's environment would be ruined for eons and we would all likely be dead. But if we spread ourselves around, our species would survive and perhaps recreate our ruined planet. Also, colonize is the proper word.

We haven't stabilized the situation on the one planet where we know for sure there are the conditions to maintain life. We have all the means to do so, yet we're wrecking our environment. So then after destroying it we want to hop off to another planet to plunder that one too? Colonization is inevitably destructive. Just ask the Taino, or the inhabitants of the Amazon. What we should be doing is conserving and improving what we have here, right now, while we still can. You don't ruin your main residence and then start looking for a vacation home.

Sounds nice, Zook, but the amount of money spent on space research is minuscule compared to many government programs.  It’s a fraction of one percent of the GNP.  I can assure you that that money spent on ecology would not solve the environmental problem of this planet.  Why is the space program always picked on for how much money is spent? It boggles my mind.  Just the fact that it inspires children to become scientists and engineers in this country is worth the money, and I’m sure there are others who would be happy to list other accomplishments that the space program helped develop.  Go pick on national defense or something.

[TheZookie007]

I remember seeing this on TV when I was 13 years old. It was on CBS with Walter Cronkite in black and white and it was fuzzy looking but then the sharpness of TVs in those days wasn't very good. Anyways, it's a shame we didn't go to Mars soon after. 

We didn't have the technology nor the political will to organize a trip to Mars in the late-60s/early-70s. Even now, more than 50 years later, we're only just able to have the infrastructure to accomplish that.

Unpopular opinion: as much as I love space and space exploration, the time, money, and resources that certain people are putting towards "colonizing Mars" (I hate the sound and implications of that phrase) would be better used in securing the ecological and environmental future of the only known planet in the entire universe that can sustain humankind: Terra. We don't get to decide to trash this place and move on to another planet to trash.

Thoroughly disagree. You should never put ALL of your eggs in one basket. We should colonize other spatial bodies if able. As of now, if a 6 mile wide meteorite which killed off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago hit our Earth, our planet's environment would be ruined for eons and we would all likely be dead. But if we spread ourselves around, our species would survive and perhaps recreate our ruined planet. Also, colonize is the proper word.

We haven't stabilized the situation on the one planet where we know for sure there are the conditions to maintain life. We have all the means to do so, yet we're wrecking our environment. So then after destroying it we want to hop off to another planet to plunder that one too? Colonization is inevitably destructive. Just ask the Taino, or the inhabitants of the Amazon. What we should be doing is conserving and improving what we have here, right now, while we still can. You don't ruin your main residence and then start looking for a vacation home.

Sounds nice, Zook, but the amount of money spent on space research is minuscule compared to many government programs.  It’s a fraction of one percent of the GNP.  I can assure you that that money spent on ecology would not solve the environmental problem of this planet.  Why is the space program always picked on for how much money is spent? It boggles my mind.  Just the fact that it inspires children to become scientists and engineers in this country is worth the money, and I’m sure there are others who would be happy to list other accomplishments that the space program helped develop.  Go pick on national defense or something.

I think you're missing my point.

For one thing, I know exactly how much of the US national budget goes towards funding all of the programs run by NASA: half of a cent of your tax dollar. This is in contrast to the 15-20 cents of your tax dollar that goes to the US Dept. of Defense. And I am highly aware on a personal level of the fantastic work that the men and women of NASA do, more than you may realize.

My point isn't that we should not keep funding space exploration - in fact, I would argue that we as a nation should increase that funding substantially. NASA provides some of the biggest worldwide bang-for-the-buck of nearly any other taxpayer-funded arm of the US government, and I love it to death.

My point is that certain people are talking about "colonizing Mars" as a means to escape the fuck-up that we as a species in general, and the United States as one of the world's biggest greenhouse polluters in particular, have done to this planet.

That is wrong.

Fix our issues here, on Earth, now. We have the means to do it. We just have not exercised the political will to do it.

Then after (for example) we are no longer in danger of increasing the global sea temperatures by 2 degrees Celsius, or have at least ameliorated it, maybe then we can think about sending humans to Mars.

That's my point.

I'm not anti-space exploration, at all.

I am against moving from planet to planet like an ersatz Galactus though.

[Shadowmuse Blown]

So, the Artemis timetable slips again. Big surprise.  Who decided to make the rocket non-reusable?  Way too expensive.

NASA’s budget sucks.  And much of the way it throws money at corporations like Boeing for doing shoddy work is horrendous.   Can’t make your deadline?  Okay, here’s more money.  Oh, your capsule had over 80 failures during the test flight?  Here’s more money.  Goals should be met and if a company can’t meet them, they should be FINED.  The budget is relatively small and it squanders much of it on waste like that.  Meanwhile, the Chinese are demonstrating very well that they are more than capable of going to the Moon soon, and we will be left behind in the dust.  If the Chinese decide to build a mass launcher while there and aim it back on Earth, then they will call the shots and also close the doors to us for space.  Far fetched?  Maybe.  But not impossible by any means.