Posted on 09/18/2007 10:15:28 PM PDT by HAL9K
This is my first post here... hope I'm not screwing up tremendously or violating etiquette...
I want to know the opinions of the people here on the concept of humanity moving out into space -- the moon, Mars, and beyond.
Anyone have any thoughts to share? Do you feel strongly one way or the other? Neutral? I notice "space" doesn't even show up as a topic here... although we do have topics of "poetry" (which I applaud), "UFOs", and "Weird stuff."
Cheers, Hal
Ping!
Space geek ping
I say blast off. I want colony ships loaded with 10,000,000 people heading toward the nearest habitable planet as soon as we discover it. Or, hey, let’s develop terraformation, or build underground on planets like Mars.
We have regular space exploration threads here. I am one of the advocates for the spread of humanity beyond our nifty but dinky rock.
I’m all for sending terrorists and assorted liberals to visit the Sun...
FReeper KevinDavis posts numerous threads on such topics. Get on his list.
Great! I’m a newbie, how do I get on his list?
Thanks,
Hal
Just send him a request to be added to his FR mail ...
Thanks AAC.
There are political reasons for a permanent human presence on the Moon; basically, after the “dark side” radioastronomy station(s) is (are) set up, a permanent human presence would be unnecessary, and possibly counterproductive to the astronomy to be done. It’s pretty clear that the only way I’d ever get a ride into space would be if I signed up for pioneering on Mars, but I don’t support the idea otherwise. :’)
There are a few places in the Solar System where humans can set foot, including the Moon, Mars, Mercury, and some few of the moons of the large outer planets. I think that (for political as well as some scientific reasons) the US should be first on all of them. Large, slow, space-station-like craft should be used to get to the intended celestial body. A more-or-less permanent human presence on Mars should consist of a space station in orbit around Mars, giving the astronauts a destination, and making bops down to the surface and back a lot more practical and safe.
The US should also build a plasma-drive (or some other advanced propulsion system) capable of pushing a decent sized probe to Alpha Centauri within a longer timeframe.
The most important job in space is to identify all the random bits of larger debris which could come crashing down on the Earth over time. The second most important is to assay these same chunks and prospect ‘em for minerals.
I can think of 11 (ROFL) to 20 million people that could go to the Moon, Mars or Venus. Heck, just fire them into the sun.
Then about 1.8 billion with a “B” Muslims that could go to meet Allah in space (no return tickets).
Give them all “A Ticket To Ride”.
“Bang, Zoom, To the Moon Alice!”
Hit them again.
Do I get to pick who gets blasted into space?
""From the night, Mercury's surface temperature changes 1,130 °F (630 °C), more than any other planet or moon in the solar system. Just before sunrise on a typical day on Mercury the temperature is -300 °F (-180 °C). By midmorning the temperature rises to 80 °F (27 °C). At noontime, 22 Earth days since the sun rise, it has climbed to 765 °F (407 °C). In the early afternoon the temperature reaches a high of 800 °F (427 °C), hot enough to melt zinc and tin."
You have carte blanche.
AS a kid I have always thought it would be cool to dig a tunnel to China. I have stated a few times but my mom made me fill the holes. Having learned this is not yet practical and not really wanting more trade with China and also a lack of a country that I want a tunnel to, I have turned to large under water cities. This was true even before global warming. I also found voyage to the bottom of the more credible than lost in space. Then again penny was cuter that anyone on the Seaview.
Here here!!!
I wanna retire on the moon! Too old for the colonies, I reckon.
If Bill Gates wanted to do something great with that pile of money he has made, he would fund a privately-owned moonbase and turn it into a luxury retirement home for elderly moneybags.
Yes, I know, I wouldn’t be able to afford that either, but getting private enterprise involved in the space race is the only way were ever going to get it working.
When mankind becomes a spacefaring society,
(visit http://www.nss.org/) we will have a situation where there are
Infinite Wants and Infinite Resources
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