Is it worth the money to step foot on Mars?

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

[ambrose]

Sand Mountain Reporter
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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.

 

 

[Doc On The Bay]

NEITHER Columbus or L&C Positively KNEW there was a "Gold Mine" at the End of Their expeditions. They just Guessed--& Promised Their "Patrons!"

SAME HERE.

But there are a LOT MORE valuable resources than "Gold," now, & we are FAR MORE "Capable" than we were 2 Centuries ago!

Doc

[Bobsat]

"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?

That's EXACTLY what I prefer to do, spend my own money on what I want instead of the government taking it through the coercion called "taxation." "Public" money is a total misnomer and farce!

However, recognizing that the government IS going to pry my money (and yours, yours, and yours) from us some way or other, and it IS going to spend more than it takes in anyway, I'd rather it go for something worthwhile.

The Interstate Highway System is an example as were the moon trips.

Economic activity does have a multiplier effect far greater than just redistribution of wealth.

[Travis McGee]

You could walk across Death Valley with a load of water on your back 200 years ago. The rest is just gradual improvements to the technology, to where we have A/C cars and highways.

Let's see someone get to Mars on their own. Another invalid comparison.

[RightWhale]

sending it into space

Do they shovel bushels of greenbacks into the nosecone?

[Travis McGee]

Settlers by the thousand walked right behind L&C on their own dime. Ditto ships and Columbus.

Where is the comparison to trillion dollar space travel?

Where's that private enterprise moonbase harvesting unobtainium, 35 years after Apollo?

If the robot Mars rovers find unobtainium on Mars in commercial quantities, let private corporations pony up to go get it. That's the model of the Dutch East India and Hudson Bay companies etc.

But to shovel trillions at a human photo-op with no payoff is absurd. There is zero comparison to Columbus or L&C.

Or have I missed that thriving moon industry that followed Apollo?

Where is that moonbase, 35 years on?

[RightWhale]

That just ain't gonna happen with the moon or Mars.

No, it won't, not right away. Intolerable for a people impatient at a delay at Macdonald's drive-up window.

But there would be a point where space development would be self-supporting and it might take off after that. Where is that point? We won't see it just by placing a long-duration science base on the moon. Not even close. The ideal utopia would have 5000 residents.

[RightWhale]

the model of the Dutch East India and Hudson Bay companies etc.

That's the way to do it. Get a certificate from the king and go for it.

[LibWhacker]

Okay, name a big desert. In a very real sense, we can't get to that desert and cross it today "on our own dime." Millions of people before us paid for our ability to do it, from Spain's subjects onward.

Think of it in terms of the spirit of exploration. And never forget: It is in large part what we've learned so far in the space program that has enabled us to have the best military in the world. It's as much a defense issue as anything else. I'm not willing to cede the moon and cislunar space to the Chinese!

[Doc On The Bay]

Once Again--,"Sigh!!--"

Human History Doesn't "Happen" in "Sound Bytes" or Seconds.

If we are Smart Enough & remain Sane Enough to Colonize the Moon & Mars; the Process will take several Decades.

If we are Smart Enough & Brave Enough to Colonize the Moon & Mars--& Beyond,--we MAY Survive as a Species.

To Involute--to turn "Inward", & concentrate on re-distributing our Natural Wealth to an ever-expanding population--is "Slow Suicide."

We are Built to "Go Out." To Deny this Fact is to ignore tens of thousands of years of Human History.

IF WE SURVIVE,--we WILL Colonize the Moon & Mars; it is in our Basic Genetic Nature!

So WHY NOT "Do It Now,"--when we CAN, & before our "Cultural Pressure" forces us to "Go Out" with FAR MORE LIMITED RESOURCES!!

Doc

[Doc On The Bay]

WELL---You have to "Prime the Pump!"

Sometimes it takes a Couple of Gallons, Sometimes it takes a Lake!!

To FAIL is--eventually--"Species Suicide!!"

Doc

[CurlyDave]

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?

We have never sent any money into space. It has been spent right here on earth, mostly in the good old USA.

Space exploration both promotes the general welfare of the US and advances our defense.

In somewhere between 100 and 200 years it will be entirely possible for ordinary people to get to both the moon and Mars without any more government help than you get when you fly an airplane from New York to Los Angeles.

It will be far better for our children if our government is the first one on Mars and the moon than say, China.

[ambrose]

Quick question:

Would you like for this to be the first Terran flag to be planted on Martian soil...

[Bobsat]

Don't delude yourselves into thinking that the main objectives of the Moon/Mars proposal are simply to go to the moon and then Mars or that they have much at all to do with space travel.

If you use hindsight in detailing the objectives of Kennedy's moon proposal letting the results define the objectives, you'll see that the actual landings were incidental.

For example, before the first landing, my cotton flight suits were replaced with ones of fire resitant Nomex nylon developed for the space program. I have a pistol with grips made from carbon fiber, a direct descendent of the development by the Brunswick Corporation to make lightweight, high presssure oxygen tanks for the space program.

To save a few million words, the bottom line is that the effort isn't justifiable under any articulable manifest goals, but the treasure is in the spinoffs from the doing.

Any techno-weenie who lived through and paid attention during the 20 years after the first moon landing knows about a lot of technological innovations directly attributable to the space program before 1970. The space program was a cheap way to prime a huge economic pump.

I personally think the shuttle and other NASA exploits since the Apollo program have been wasteful boondoggles, but I think this new proposal has a chance to repeat the earthbound benefits of the Apollo program.

[Major_Risktaker]

I know there is Sweet Martian Crude Oil 100 Feet below the surface with a 5000 year Earth supply. Interplanetary Commerce will begin with GREED!

Could Mars be the ultimate dry hole?

Dreams about drilling on Mars date back
several years at least.

[Stew Padasso]

Pay for it yourself.

[Natural Law]

I'm in for $10.

[ambrose]

It´s been a long road, getting from there to here.
It´s been a long time, but my time is finally near.
And I can feel the change in the wind right now. Nothing´s in my way.
And they´re not gonna hold me down no more, no they´re not gonna hold me down.

Cause I´ve got faith of the heart.
I´m going where my heart will take me.
I´ve got faith to believe. I can do anything.
I´ve got strength of the soul. And no one´s gonna bend or break me.
I can reach any star. I´ve got faith, I´ve got faith, faith of the heart.

It´s been a long night. Trying to find my way.
Been through the darkness. Now I finally have my day.
And I will see my dream come alive at last. I will touch the sky.
And they´re not gonna hold me down no more, no they´re not gonna change my mind.

Cause I´ve got faith of the heart.
I´m going where my heart will take me.
I´ve got faith to believe. I can do anything.
I´ve got strength of the soul. And no one´s gonna bend or break me.
I can reach any star. I´ve got faith, faith of the heart.

I´ve known the wind so cold, and seen the darkest days.
But now the winds I feel, are only winds of change.
I´ve been through the fire and I´ve been through the rain.
But I´ll be fine.


Cause I´ve got faith of the heart.
I´m going where my heart will take me.
I´ve got faith to believe. I can do anything.
I´ve got strength of the soul. And no one´s gonna bend or break me.
I can reach any star. I´ve got faith.


I´ve got faith of the heart.
I´m going where my heart will take me.
I´ve got strength of the soul. And no one´s gonna bend or break me.
I can reach any star. I´ve got faith, I´ve got faith, faith of the heart.

It´s been a long road.

[Travis McGee]

"Once again...sigh;;;;let'" me be as condescending and patronizing as possible to the little morons..."".."

No thanks doc. You go ahead and play by yourself.

Just keep the facts straight. 35 years after Columbus and L&C, thousands of settler were following them on THEIR OWN DIME.

35 years after Apollo we have....not one private venture able to follow them.

So talk of "colonizing" the moon or Mars is sophistry, mental masturbation you hope to foist off on other starry-eyed Trekkies.

Sorry Doc, you need to pay for your own circle jerk. I ain't buying your childish fantasy.

[Travis McGee]

Let whoever wants to pay for a Mars photo op pay for it.

You, the Chinese, or the Mars Exploration and Mining Corporation.

But don't ask Americans to pay for your trillion dollar photo op fantasy, which will lead to exactly what Apollo led to.........nothing.

"National presitge" at a trillion bucks a pop? Not worth it.

[Travis McGee]

The ideal utopia would have 5000 residents.

You reveal your utopian fantasy. With every pound of cargo brought to Mars at million dollars per?

Dream on dreamer. On your own dime.