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Humans on Mars? Forget it
LA Times ^ | 04/26/10 | Simon Ramo

Posted on 04/26/2010 5:52:28 PM PDT by KevinDavis

Nearly half a century ago, we sent men to the moon because we had to stop the world from thinking that the Soviet Union, having put a man in orbit, had surpassed the United States in science and technology. When Americans walked on the moon, we were back in first place, with the Russians keeping the lead in ballet, caviar and vodka. So we halted continued moon landings.

(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: mars; space
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To: cripplecreek
"The biggest problem I see with mars is the magnetic field problem."

I'm thinking the "proximity problem" is bigger.

41 posted on 04/26/2010 6:49:01 PM PDT by Mad Dawgg (If you're going to deny my 1st Amendment rights then I must proceed to the next one...)
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To: cripplecreek; All

I agree.. Space does not question my faith in God what so ever..


42 posted on 04/26/2010 6:49:19 PM PDT by KevinDavis (Jesus Saves... Allah Kills...)
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To: rogertarp; All

Right...


43 posted on 04/26/2010 6:50:10 PM PDT by KevinDavis (Jesus Saves... Allah Kills...)
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To: Army Air Corps; rogertarp

No harm, no foul. Have you noticed the “young zealot” has gone silent?

Please read his posting history; you’ll see examples of every foul, negative Christian stereotype in his puke-drooling prose. I see a ZOT in his future.


44 posted on 04/26/2010 6:50:26 PM PDT by Grizzled Bear (Does not play well with others.)
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To: Mad Dawgg

Proximity is our immediate problem. LOL


45 posted on 04/26/2010 6:52:33 PM PDT by cripplecreek (Remember the River Raisin! (look it up))
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To: KevinDavis
I'm in favor of going to Mars, but not at taxpayer expense. Once we get nuclear propulsion, so the trip takes at most a few weeks instead of six months, the picture changes for the better. If there's money to be made, private industry will go.
46 posted on 04/26/2010 6:53:42 PM PDT by JoeFromSidney
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To: KevinDavis

Why would God create something and expect us to never touch it? There were explicit instructions about the forbidden fruit but none about the stars.


47 posted on 04/26/2010 6:55:12 PM PDT by cripplecreek (Remember the River Raisin! (look it up))
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To: cripplecreek

Of course, we are there ( in space ) now, as we ride the earth. It’s just a question of moving around a little bit more. Also of course, even with unlimited ambition humans could never visit more than a tiny fraction of what we can survey. The article emphasizes the difficulties of visiting Mars, which is a single step from our door, as it were. Travel to even the nearest stars has to be judged impossible.


48 posted on 04/26/2010 6:57:04 PM PDT by dr_lew
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To: Grizzled Bear

I apologize if I have offended you. I did not attack you personally, nor do I intend to attack your atheism or ignorance of basic spiritual truth. I really believe you will go you hell but there is always hope.


49 posted on 04/26/2010 6:57:42 PM PDT by rogertarp
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To: rogertarp

The whole NASA budget does not come anywhere close to $1 trillion. The Department of Health and Human Services is many times the budget of NASA.


50 posted on 04/26/2010 7:00:47 PM PDT by Army Air Corps (Four fried chickens and a coke)
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To: dr_lew

I don’t give up that easily. Had we continued at the rate that took us to the moon I have no doubt we would have been at mars and beyond. Granted the stars are would still be well out of our reach but that doesn’t mean they would be forever.

The fact that we’ve been doing next to nothing is the reason there haven’t been big developments.


51 posted on 04/26/2010 7:02:17 PM PDT by cripplecreek (Remember the River Raisin! (look it up))
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To: yefragetuwrabrumuy

I always wondered why no one suggested an approach similar to mountain climbing: ie, set up base camps/stations along the way until you reach a point to make the final trek to the goal. Say, build a better Earth-orbit station. I mean a really good one. Then maybe one between Earth and Moon, or just a moon base, then one or two between the Earth-Mars orbit (I know, keeping it in a reasonable orbit will be a pain, maybe it could just be an unmanned fueling post), then make the jump to Mars. Overall it would be more costly, but with new techs being developed by the exploration, it may pay for itself over time.


52 posted on 04/26/2010 7:03:16 PM PDT by Clock King (There's no way to fix D.C.)
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To: JoeFromSidney
"I'm in favor of going to Mars, but not at taxpayer expense. Once we get nuclear propulsion, so the trip takes at most a few weeks instead of six months, the picture changes for the better. If there's money to be made, private industry will go."

Imagine our world today if your philosophy on Government funded exploration was in place in 1492. Or in 1803.

Governments do the initial exploration, and establishing the foothold/pathfinding. Private Enterprise then does the colonization.

53 posted on 04/26/2010 7:03:28 PM PDT by Mad Dawgg (If you're going to deny my 1st Amendment rights then I must proceed to the next one...)
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To: rogertarp

Mars hot? I thought it was rather cold.


54 posted on 04/26/2010 7:23:45 PM PDT by John-Irish ("Shame of him who thinks of it''.)
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To: rogertarp; KevinDavis; cripplecreek; Army Air Corps; ColdWater
I apologize if I have offended you. I did not attack you personally, nor do I intend to attack your atheism or ignorance of basic spiritual truth. I really believe you will go you hell but there is always hope.

rogertarp, where do I start?

You didn't offend me, I just have little tolerance for puppets and frauds who claim the ability to discern who goes to hell.

Do you really believe that when someone points out the foolish inaccuracies you are spouting concerning subjects you know nothing about, they must be an atheist?

Your ignorance of science can be cured by reading a third grade level book on the solar system! You're knowledge about the subject rivals Al Gore's idiocy about climate science!

My knowledge of spiritual truth comes from God inspired scripture in the Holy Bible coupled with enlightenment from the Holy Spirit. You seem to get your knowledge from drinking kool-aid at your annual family reunions, which is most likely where two siblings married and begat you.

The most galling part of your post is that you have the audacity to declare who is condemned to hell and who is not. There is only one who knows whether or not I accepted His gift of salvation. You aint Him!

I've seen Christians in all states of grace, none were as sad as you. You're a pretender, a fraud. If you were an automobile, you would be a Ford Pinto with an broken 8-track player.

Now run along and find a Bible, read it. Then maybe you'll stop spouting false doctrine. Now, I'm going to stop posting to you; unfortunately, I can only tolerate so much buffoonery in one evening.

Oh, and you forgot to post the goofy 6000 year old earth claim.

55 posted on 04/26/2010 7:24:38 PM PDT by Grizzled Bear (Does not play well with others.)
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To: cripplecreek
The fact that we’ve been doing next to nothing is the reason there haven’t been big developments.

Undoubtedly. Even the very successful robotic missions to Mars and the outer planets have been largely discontinued. I would be thrilled with robot landers on the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, something it's safe to say I will not live to see.

And why not robotic exploration of the moon? If robotics were to advance to the point of fulfilling the most modest popular expectations, they could prepare a habitable moon base.

56 posted on 04/26/2010 7:25:11 PM PDT by dr_lew
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To: Mad Dawgg

1803?

Lewis and Clark?


57 posted on 04/26/2010 7:26:30 PM PDT by cripplecreek (Remember the River Raisin! (look it up))
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To: dr_lew

I do think we’ll have to return to the moon and stay if we hope to do more. Robotic preparations are a good idea.


58 posted on 04/26/2010 7:28:47 PM PDT by cripplecreek (Remember the River Raisin! (look it up))
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To: dr_lew
"Travel to even the nearest stars has to be judged impossible."

For now.

I remember back in the 70s all these so called "Smart people" proclaiming the Noise Wall will never be breached due to physics.

The noise wall is a term used in the Analog recording industry basically it refers to the Ambient background noise that is recorded each time you make a copy of a recording. Eventually the noise level becomes so great you can't here the original recording.

Then came digital recording and the noise wall was not only breached it was destroyed forever being digital recording can make copy after copy because you aren't dealing with analog background noise each time you make a copy.

So when I hear the words impossible applied to a given situation I just smile. Because such things are funny when you realize we can't know what we don't know till we know it and thus we can't ever claim something is impossible with 100% accuracy!

59 posted on 04/26/2010 7:36:08 PM PDT by Mad Dawgg (If you're going to deny my 1st Amendment rights then I must proceed to the next one...)
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To: KevinDavis
Thanks for the giggle. I love the "no, we can't!" stuff - it's nearly always wrong, and the more prominent the proponent, the more embarrassing the issue. We recall the great (and he was) Lord Kelvin opining that (1) heavier than air flight was impossible, and (2) that radio had no future. He only had to wait eight years before the Wrights.

Man will walk on Mars during my lifetime. Deal with it.

60 posted on 04/26/2010 7:36:08 PM PDT by Billthedrill
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