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Trump wants NASA to send humans to Mars pronto — by his second term ‘at worst’
The Washington Post ^ | April 24, 2017 | Joel Achenbach

Posted on 04/24/2017 2:33:12 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

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To: Lazamataz; TexasGator
I knew in my heart that when Trump ran, he secretly wanted to put motorcycle gangsters on Mars.

In collusion with the Russians.

101 posted on 04/24/2017 7:51:21 PM PDT by kiryandil (Americ)
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To: kiryandil

Stalking and the ad hijacking ...

Anything to drive away those that expose motorcycle gangs for the murderers and pedophiles the are.


102 posted on 04/24/2017 8:09:07 PM PDT by TexasGator
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To: mrsmith

was I advocating killing babies? I don’t think so. I’m sure I’d have remembered. None of which has anything to do with how going to the moon will pay for itself


103 posted on 04/24/2017 8:41:49 PM PDT by from occupied ga (Your government is your most dangerous enemy)
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To: Telepathic Intruder

It WON’T happen.

Not enough Martian voters.

(i.e. There is no constituency for that level of expenditure)


104 posted on 04/24/2017 8:51:56 PM PDT by G Larry (There is no great virtue in bargaining with the Devil)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

It takes five years to get there


105 posted on 04/24/2017 9:06:58 PM PDT by vigilante2 (Re-elect nobody)
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To: vigilante2

Most people here say it takes 6 months I believe.


106 posted on 04/24/2017 9:09:14 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (You cannot invade the mainland US. There'd be a rifle behind every blade of grass.)
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To: G Larry

The expenditure wouldn’t be that great. NASA’s budget is tiny compared to others, and the lethargy of the manned space program has disillusioned us into thinking it can’t be done. You’ve hit on something: the public will just isn’t there anymore. It’s too bad, because we are a nation built by explorers—not afraid to go into the wild frontier and expand our horizons. Is the safety of never venturing beyond our comfort zones better?


107 posted on 04/24/2017 9:14:30 PM PDT by Telepathic Intruder
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To: G Larry

Good post!

It costs a hell of lot of money to get pounds on Mars. To put man on Mars the vast majority of the payload would be dedicated to keeping the crew alive and then returning them to earth. Without humans on board all this payload would be useful robotics to explore the surface of Mars.

In the future when it is cheaper and I mean very much cheaper to put payload on Mars we might consider humans.

The Apollo program that put humans on the moon was an engineering marvel. Actually considering It was in 1969 it was a miracle of engineering and scientific excellence. However, the entire weight of the Lunar excursion module could have been robotic exploration. Actually more than the weight of the lunar excursion module as we also had the return module in orbit around the moon. All of that weight could have been robotics and our gains in the science of the moon would have been far greater.

When it cheap and I mean really cheap to put a lot of weight to the moon and mars it makes sense to put a man on board. That is not today.


108 posted on 04/24/2017 9:20:56 PM PDT by cpdiii (Deckhand, Roughneck, Mud Man, Geologist, Pilot, Pharmacist. CONSTITUTUTION IS WORTH DYING FOR!)
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To: Telepathic Intruder

“The expenditure wouldn’t be that great.”

Perhaps you’d like to put a number on that?

You have no idea how the costs have compounded with a bunch of wanna-be engineers more focused on CYA than success.

Watchers, watching the watchers, and nobody defining hard requirements.
Test results with more unqualified second guessers than can fit in 747.

Dream if you like, but tell your grandkids to mark the “planned” launch date on their tombstone.


109 posted on 04/24/2017 9:39:52 PM PDT by G Larry (There is no great virtue in bargaining with the Devil)
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To: TexasGator; Lazamataz
Anything to drive away those that expose motorcycle gangs for the murderers and pedophiles the are.

I'm confused.

You appear to be saying that those who expose motorcycle gangs are murderers and pedophiles. In English, that is... 😀

110 posted on 04/24/2017 9:58:39 PM PDT by kiryandil (Americ)
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To: G Larry

A manned mission to Mars was already budgeted in the 90’s but rejected because of alternative goals. At the height of the Apollo landings we were paying a little less than 5 cents of every tax dollar to NASA. Today we’re paying a little more than half a cent. We’ve gotten much better at keeping people alive for long periods of time in space. There is a water reclamation system on the ISS. With a source of water, astronauts on Mars could produce their own food and oxygen as well. They wouldn’t need kilotons of supplies. And scientists on the ground could research in a matter of days what would take years for robotic probes to do. Robots can’t think. They can’t adapt to answer questions raised by more answers resulting from research in the field. But all this aside, if we don’t do it someone else will. Then they’ll have the high ground and we’ll be stuck following their coat tails. Is this America’s future?


111 posted on 04/24/2017 10:05:37 PM PDT by Telepathic Intruder
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To: Telepathic Intruder

>A manned mission to Mars was already budgeted in the 90’s but rejected because of alternative goals. At the height of the Apollo landings we were paying a little less than 5 cents of every tax dollar to NASA. Today we’re paying a little more than half a cent. We’ve gotten much better at keeping people alive for long periods of time in space. There is a water reclamation system on the ISS. With a source of water, astronauts on Mars could produce their own food and oxygen as well. They wouldn’t need kilotons of supplies. And scientists on the ground could research in a matter of days what would take years for robotic probes to do. Robots can’t think. They can’t adapt to answer questions raised by more answers resulting from research in the field. But all this aside, if we don’t do it someone else will. Then they’ll have the high ground and we’ll be stuck following their coat tails. Is this America’s future?

Stepping foot on another planet would be huge. I bet the Chinese would try to beat us there as well. Space races are great motivations that create lots of useful tech.


112 posted on 04/24/2017 10:08:42 PM PDT by RedWulf
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To: RedWulf

Yes and also opens up new possibilities. It starts with one small step....


113 posted on 04/24/2017 10:47:53 PM PDT by Telepathic Intruder
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To: kiryandil

“I’m confused”

Yes, you are.


114 posted on 04/25/2017 4:31:20 AM PDT by TexasGator
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To: mrsmith
The cost of geting anything out of Earth’s gravity well is huge, the cost of getting out of the Moon’s gravity well is negligible.

I must disagree with the second part of your statement. You are absolutely correct in saying that getting stuff out of earth's gravity is very costly, but you are dead wrong in saying that getting stuff out of the moon's gravity well is cheap. It's actually MORE expensive than just getting it from the earth to the moon.

How can I make such a statement?

Easy. The fuel needed to get something off the moon's surface HAS TO COME FROM THE EARTH FIRST. Not only do you have the cost of getting it off the earth, but you have the added energy cost of slowing it down so it doesn't make another little crater on the moon's surface. Sorry good buddy your statement about the moon paying for itself remains unsubstantiated.

115 posted on 04/25/2017 4:42:00 AM PDT by from occupied ga (Your government is your most dangerous enemy)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Nobody voted for him because we thought he’d waste our tax dollars on this pipe dream.


116 posted on 04/25/2017 7:40:56 AM PDT by Boogieman
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To: Hot Tabasco

“Look what the Wright brothers did for aviation.”

Do it on your own dime then, like the Wright brothers did.


117 posted on 04/25/2017 7:43:33 AM PDT by Boogieman
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Of course, everyone knows that is where the secret Nazi base is.


118 posted on 04/25/2017 7:44:59 AM PDT by Boogieman
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To: higgmeister

“Subsurface ice probably is abundant.”

“Probably” is not really something you want to hear in mission critical parameters.


119 posted on 04/25/2017 7:55:35 AM PDT by Boogieman
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To: G Larry

“Robots can do as much or more for 10% of the cost of sending manned craft.”

Yes but sci fi fans don’t want to hear about that. They want to keep their pipe dream that we’ll all be living in space soon, even though there is no practical reason to do it.


120 posted on 04/25/2017 8:00:07 AM PDT by Boogieman
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