Mars: The Red Planet Will Not Be White

MOTUS A.D. ^ | 11-27-18 | MOTUS

[bmwcyle]

Another CGI cartoon by NASA and nothing more.

[DoodleBob]

When New Horizons flew past Pluto in 2015 (which was a bigger deal than this Mars landing IMHO), there was a lot of flag-waving.

[real saxophonist]

I have a book, 'Failure Is Not An Option', signed by Gene Kranz. 8~)

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

The very best thing we can do with Mars exploration involves the Russians. This is because NASA is caught in a nerd spiral of investigating, then investigating again, then again, etc., while ignoring the big picture.

Russians, on the other hand, can be very practical. For example, NASA would be horrified at the idea of sending nuclear powered tunneling robots to the Moon or Mars, to create more permanent tunnel habitats, *that could be improved* without having humans there to directly operate the robots. Russians would see it as very common sense.

Once such tunnels are built, with pressure doors, complements of the robot lander ship, the rock reinforced and sprayed with sealant for micro-leaks, and other parts of the lander used for ceiling, walls and flooring, continuing to dig soon gives you a substantial habitat that gets better and better with each subsequent mission.

[bgill]

Well, duh, everyone knows it’s green.

[Cowboy Bob]

My son is a Freshman at Texas A&M. He gets to choose his specific Engineering field at the end of the Spring Semester. His first choice is Aerospace. A&M has a close relationship with NASA, so I hope he’ll be able to get an internship with them while a student.

[dfwgator]

[cyclotic]

That’s great. If his internship is anything like my kid’s, be prepared for a shock.

While his was actually a job he held for about two years, not just an internship, it came with 401K, medical, paid vacation and even educational reimbursement.

He made enough to fully fund his last two years of college.

I knew when he was done he’d be making a good income so we loaned him money for college.

[Cowboy Bob]

He made enough to fully fund his last two years of college.

Wow! I'll have to tell my son. :)

[dainbramaged]

Russians, on the other hand, can be very practical.
IIRC we spent a lot of money developing a pen that could write in zero gravity, while the Russians simply used a pencil.

[sparklite2]

If the ethnic makeup of the JPL control center is any indication, Mars will be as white as snow. You can lead the left of the curve to education, but you can’t make it a rocket scientist.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Venus is actually a better bet to colonize.

Still has an atmosphere and a molten core.

We would have to do a little redecorating but it could be Earth 2 in much less time.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

IIRC we spent a lot of money developing a pen that could write in zero gravity, while the Russians simply used a pencil.

Well, no.

Like most things lauding the USSR a complete and total fable. Usually told by liberals.

A pencil in space is a total no no as the shavings and little flakes of graphite would get into everything including the electronics.

The pen used was developed by a private company and is still being sold as it actually WORKS. Unlike things made by Russia.

[Travis T. OJustice]

https://www.spacepen.com/

[Mr. Blond]

The non-whites can colonize space when they figure out how to build the rockets.

[dainbramaged]

That’s one I should have looked up before posting, but I get most of my exercise jumping to conclusions. Thanks