Is it worth the money to step foot on Mars?

Mountain Reporter ^ | 1-21-04 | Steven Stiefel

[ambrose]

Sand Mountain Reporter
http://sandmountainreporter.com

Copyright © 2004 Sand Mountain Reporter

Is it worth the money to step foot on Mars?

By Steven Stiefel
Sand Mountain Reporter

Published January 22, 2004

Should we return to the moon and step foot on Mars?

That?s the agenda set by President George W. Bush in hopes of winning re-election. Certainly, that would have a huge impact on Marshall County citizens who work for NASA in Huntsville.

Some might argue we have plenty of urgent needs here at home, that we should make sure no child goes without a textbook before spending billions to reach for the stars.

I believe in the benefits of space exploration: inspiring those children to learn math and science, propelling human imagination as surely as the actual rocketships. I believe in the human drive to learn more about the universe and our role in it. I believe in the future of mankind, my future descendants colonizing the galaxy just as my predecessors carved a great nation out of wilderness.

Many benefits of America?s space program are tangible enough to see and take for granted every day.

Among the products we use today that would not have been without the U.S. Space program: satellites, fire-resistant materials, sewage treatment, wireless communications, firefighter air tanks, winter tires, engine coatings, lightweight cutters to free accident victims, computer chips used for digital imaging breast biopsies, ultrasound scanners, insulin pumps, MRIs, radiation insulation, hydroponics, aerodynamically-efficient corporate jets, safer bridges, emission testing, electric cars, auto design, new semiconductors, structural analysis used by auto manufacturers, air quality monitors, virtual reality, global positioning systems used in navigation, microcomputers, enriched baby foods, water purification systems, scratch-resistant lenses, pool purification technology, energy-saving air conditioning, competition swimsuits, golf ball aerodynamics, portable coolers/warmers, cardiovascular sports training, athletic shoes, Dustbuster, shock-absorbing helmets, home security systems, smoke detectors, flat panel TVs, high-density batteries, trash compactors, food packaging and freeze-dried technology, sports bras, weather forecasting technology, laser angioplasty, microlasers for precision welding, and interactive computer training.

Have these inventions been worth the money we have invested as taxpayers? Just think of the lives saved and the efficiency measures that allow American companies to remain competitive internationally.

Out of a $1.5 trillion budget, less than 1 percent is spent on the entire space program.

Conservative estimates are for every dollar the U.S. government spends on the space proram, it receives $7 back in the form of corporate and personal income taxes from increased jobs and economic growth.

There will be those who say it is foolish to look at that big rock in the night sky, but future wonders await us. Just think what new minerals might be waiting elsewhere, allowing us to build stronger equipment or providing links that lead to solving diseases here on Earth.

We?ll never know unless we go. Tell your congressmen you support space exploration.

 

 

[Doctor Stochastic]

Sliced bread?

[Travis McGee]

Trappers and settlers went right behind Lewis and Clark, and built this nation.

How exactly do ordinary Americans follow astronauts to Mars in that way?

There is NO comparison.

[ambrose]

How exactly do ordinary Americans follow astronauts to Mars in that way?

As colonists.

[Travis McGee]

Just like the thousands of "colonists" living on the moon since 1969, right?

Absurd non-comparison.

35 years after Colombus, Cortez or Lewis and Clark, the new lands were swarming with colonists. They just sailed over or walked in, the same way as the explorers.

How do your "colonists" get to Mars, in a way that is self-paid and self-sustaining? And not as part of a trillion dollar stunt project?

Show me your self-paying colonists on the moon, and then talk to me about Mars.

[LibWhacker]

How exactly do ordinary Americans follow astronauts to Mars in that way?

I agree . . . They can't follow in that way, at least not immediately. In fact, ordinary Americans probably won't be able to follow for a long time. The technology and infrastructure have to be developed and put into place first. As Dubya said, we're doing it "in the spirit of discovery, to learn the potential of vast new territory, and to chart a way for others to follow." That's the comparison to Lewis and Clark we need to focus on, imo, and not so much on beaver pelts and the like. It'll never be like that.

[LibWhacker]

. . . in a way that is self-paid and self-sustaining? And not as part of a trillion dollar stunt project?

In the same way that I can get up on a hot August morning and drive out alone into the middle of Death Valley without a care in the world and only one jug of water. Technology. Technological development has made that possible. It would've been crazy to be caught out in the middle of Death Valley in August with only one jug of water 150 years ago.

But then, I have an awful lot of faith in technology! :-)

[Dr. Marten]

The Chinese will probably beat us there since they really dont have to pay for the labor...

[Atlas Sneezed]

I get down on my knees every day and thank them for bringing us Tang.

---

LOL!

[Atlas Sneezed]

I'd sure rather see public money spent trying to get to Mars than spent on welfare and entitlements.

---

"Public" money?! How do you feel about me spending MY money the way I see fit, instead of sending it into space to satisfy someone else's hobby?

[ambrose]

Well, I don't see the moon as a suitable place to colonize. We'll certainly want to have lunar bases. That was the original plan, but the Sheeple and politicians quickly grew bored with the space program, and NASA dropped the ball via bureaucratic incompetence.

As for Mars, why wouldn't it be a good place to colonize? I am sure there will be no shortage of willing volunteers who will want to be a part of history.

[BushCountry]

I am getting sick of this crap!

First, if NASA didn't prefect rocket technology and make its launch pads available there would not have been private industry satellites.

No satellites means very little private sector communication improvements, and no GPS. More people dead due to sevre weather! How many of you non-believers use satellite tv? Cell phones? GPSs?

Without NASA there would have been a much smaller advance in electronics (e.g. three-dimensional semiconductor package and microlasers). CCD chips! Geez, you guys ever heard of digital cameras? Medical equipment advancement! How many companies would have developed the highly profitable air quality monitors? NONE!

The funny thing is, the spinoffs are everyday household items, the clowns that protest these advancements and shrug that someone else would have done it, haven't a clue! They just take advantage of these technologies b^%tch and moan about them! Irony?

[Benjo]

"Public" money?! How do you feel about me spending MY money the way I see fit, instead of sending it into space to satisfy someone else's hobby?

Way to go, Beelzebubba!

[Atlas Sneezed]

First, if NASA didn't prefect rocket technology and make its launch pads available there would not have been private industry satellites.

---

Are you forgetting the military's lauch capability?

[BushCountry]

Not in the least, the military benefited greatly from NASA attempts to put a man in space. You must of forgot all of the failures and attempts it took.

Then, if the military was soley responsible for space exploration, how much would they have shared with private industry? I will answer for you, NADA! How many launch pads would they have shared with telecommunications firms? I will answer for you, NONE!

[SauronOfMordor]

The developments would have happened eventually, but not nearly as quickly. A large percentage of the cost of the space program is the R&D costs. All that expertise, all that engineering knowledge and experience, once the space program was done, flowed into the private sector

[BushCountry]

That's bunk and you know it! Private industry is not forward looking. They do not lead the advancement of technology without a cost/benefit anaylsts. They will not willy, nilly, risks billions of dollars or even a few million unless they know that there will be a return. When these technologies were invented there was no return or even a possiblity of return.

These developments were done to achieve a result not profit! There is a very good chance several of them would never have been invented or even thought of in left in short-sighted, technology incompetent CEOs. Don't kid yourself.

[Fester Chugabrew]

Thanks for the more moderate assessment.

[Doc On The Bay]

This is America;--the "Luddite's Opinions" are ALWAYS WELCOME, HERE.

But So is a full & Frank Discussion of the consequences of Their "Opinions!"

In the History of "Biological Creatures" on this Planet,--to "Involute, (to repudiate innovation, & to avoid "Innovation") is to Wither, & Die.

Most of Us in America want to "Press On--"!

Sometimes "Luddites" survive because a "Kind Soul" in an evolving Society chooses to "Protect & Harbor Them--", but, Usually, the "Luddites" in a Culture are "Run Over" by Technical/Sociological/Physical advances in the Culture.

Humans Preserve "Luddites" as a Cultural/Historical Legacy--to show future generations the Lunacy of such Views!

Doc

[Travis McGee]

I'm all for "colonizing" Mars if it pays its own way as a private venture. Spending trillions for a photo op is just a stunt. Let robots take pics of the planets for less than 1% of the money of putting air-breathing humans on the red planet for a photo-op. Robots will tell us if gold or unobtainium is laying around on the surface as well as an astronaut will. If there's gold, then maybe, MAYBE, it will pay a corporation to send a colony. But as it stands, we're looking for a trillion dollar photo op to send a man to Mars.

It's got to lead directly to a pay-your-way private enterprise. Columbus and L&C had this. The moon and Mars don't.

[Travis McGee]

So...we'll spend trillions of dollars to move a "MarsBase" into place at a million bucks a pound so that in a century or so...billionaires will be able to pay for vacations there? Is that about how it's worked for the moon?

Remember, 35 years after Columbus, thousands of Europeans were making a profit sailing to the new world.

That just ain't gonna happen with the moon or Mars. A trillion bucks for a photo op is a bit steep.

Send robots, for pennies on the dollar.