Keep Humans Out of Space

Minutemanmedia.org ^ | 01/25/10 | William A. Collins

[greenhornet68]

Thanks to our manned space program, unimagineable new technologies were developed. If we leave future manned space exploration up to the Chinese, Japanese, Indians and Europe, we will become a Third World Nation and most likely a socialist nation.

http://www.thespaceplace.com/nasa/spinoffs.html

[cripplecreek]

Who needs radiation detection and shielding, shock absorbing helmets, angioplasty, or pacemakers? [/sarc]

[Brugmansian]

I have a modest proposal. Lay-off everyone in the Department of Education.

Take $46.7 billion appropriated for fiscal year 2010 and move it to NASA. Use the money for unmanned missions. Make them as interactive as possible. Hold contests, NASA science camps and offer internships to HS students.

[muir_redwoods]

Humans need to colonize space and get to be galactic explorers and settlers. We have time but no one knows how much before a large asteroid with our name on it destroys the earth or the sun does it for us.

It is irresponsible to stay over-long in the cradle

[cripplecreek]

It is irresponsible to stay over-long in the cradle

Maybe we can convince liberals that Gaia wants us to move out of the basement and get jobs.

[Brugmansian]

Who needs radiation detection and shielding, shock absorbing helmets, angioplasty, or pacemakers?

If the spin-off argument is valid, do it on earth. Figure out how to put people in a unlivable environment on earth and enjoy the unforeseen benefits. It's cheaper.

[KevinDavis]

Sorry no more money for pretty space pictures.. Humans and robots can work together in space..

[Captain Beyond]

More like a Chiang-BAO HOE-tze duh BUN tyen-shung duh ee-DWAY-RO.

Also a better summation of his SOTU speech to America is
Nee mun DOH shr sagwa!!!

[Oceander]

Of course it's time to start stepping out and stretching our legs, I don't disagree with you in the least; however, that will never, ever happen with some gargantuan Cold-war era dinosaur of a government agency.

Consider, if Columbus had been funded by some Renaissance version of NASA, we'd still all be over in an overcrowded Europe, while waiting for the latest "test" ship to return from having set a foot on the New World and come running back.

Further, if you think that the only thing we get from robotic missions is "pretty pictures" then you are sadly mistaken. In fact, robotic missions will be highly instrumental to making human spaceflight possible, such as measuring the radiation fields that exist beyond the safety of the Van Allen belts, and testing out various methods for dealing with that radiation, in particular cosmic radiation, which is mostly composed of very high speed protons (i.e., cannonballs moving at near the speed of light, basically). Thus, even for human spaceflight, robotic missions are indispensable.

[cripplecreek]

Consider, if Columbus had been funded by some Renaissance version of NASA,

Columbus was government funded as were Lewis and Clark.

[votemout]

You can add Magellan and most of the others.

[LurkedLongEnough]

There is no gravity or oxygen there, and there’s lots of radiation. You would not do so good out there.

[dr_lew]

This version of The Story of Intelligent Meat popped up first on a quick search, but it's been floating around the internet for a long time.

"You're not understanding, are you? The brain does the thinking. The meat."

... it's great.

[marktwain]

Let the government offer 25% of the budget of NASA as prizes for space achievement such as private orbital capacity, private orbital habitats, private moon transport and private moon habitat.

Have NASA work to make private space ventures easier instead of harder with all risk/liability capable of being waived or limited by participants via private contract.

Get the bureaucrats out of the way instead of impeding progress, and we may get somewhere.

[votemout]

The bureaucrats did well in the 60s and early 70s. My biggest fear is that China and others will leap frog us, while Branson sends some tourists up to the space hotel.

[votemout]

I like the prize idea.

[cripplecreek]

The Richard Bransons of the world have contributed but not in any vast and meaninful way.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

I agree that robots are better, at first, but not the same kind of robots envisioned by NASA.

Imagine a nuclear powered, horizontally tunneling robot sent to the Moon, and later, to Mars. Its purpose is to mine, reinforce, seal and test a horizontal shaft for use as a long-term habitat for people.

Every inch of tunnel that is mined is cumulative, and can be used many times. In rock, the tunnel shields astronauts from cosmic and enhanced radiation, extremes of heat and cold, vacuum, and on the Moon, its terribly abrasive dust.

This means that instead of bringing down an expendable habitat every time they visit, the astronauts can bring more equipment and supplies. The robot doesn’t have to mine quickly, an inch or two a day would be just fine.

And once the humans arrive, they can use the robots nuclear engine to power their Moon base as well.

[KevinDavis]

That is my fear...

[Vaquero]

Written by a complete Moron...

All the ‘magic’ of our current technology is a direct offshoot of the moon program 40 years ago. Can one imagine what wonders we can produce in electronics, propulsion, medicine and any technology for the good of all mankind, if we were to mount a manned expedition to the planets, to the stars???

it staggers then mind.....

the Luddite who wrote this has the imagination of a stone.