Topic: NASA: Get your ass to Mars
Anonymous A started this discussion 14 years ago #23,908
NASA announces a new rover mission in 2020 with humans possibly following in 2030.Anyone think we will see this happen?
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2012/dec/HQ_12-420_Mars_2020.html
Building on the success of Curiosity's Red Planet landing, NASA has announced plans for a robust multi-year Mars program, including a new robotic science rover set to launch in 2020. ... The 2020 mission will constitute another step toward being responsive to high-priority science goals and the president's challenge of sending humans to Mars orbit in the 2030s.
Green joined in and replied with this 14 years ago, 1 hour later[^] [v] #372,304
Didn't a rover go there recently?
Ks notrip joined in and replied with this 14 years ago, 6 hours later, 7 hours after the original post[^] [v] #372,381
I doubt 2030, maybe 2040, if ever. It would be so neat if missions like this were launching ever year or so instead of every 10 years. I mean here we are still waiting on the James Webb telescope, yet we've spent trillions on wars. Retarded priorities. I was also reading recently how the nsa or some shit has a hubble telescope clone just sitting in storage for like 10 years. The greatest technology we have was gonna be used to spy on people...
beckyderp !CATLDyPIBQ joined in and replied with this 14 years ago, 3 minutes later, 7 hours after the original post[^] [v] #372,382
Falco !a7Q.SWNEJw joined in and replied with this 14 years ago, 39 seconds later, 7 hours after the original post[^] [v] #372,384
Ks notrip replied with this 14 years ago, 1 minute later, 7 hours after the original post[^] [v] #372,387
@previous (Falco !a7Q.SWNEJw)
I had my speakers really loud, you asshole. =D
@372,382 (beckyderp !CATLDyPIBQ)
God bless 'Murica.
I had my speakers really loud, you asshole. =D
@372,382 (beckyderp !CATLDyPIBQ)
God bless 'Murica.
Falco !a7Q.SWNEJw replied with this 14 years ago, 3 minutes later, 8 hours after the original post[^] [v] #372,392
Anonymous F joined in and replied with this 14 years ago, 7 hours later, 15 hours after the original post[^] [v] #372,514
Fuck robotic science on Mars. Don't get me wrong, the Curiosity Rover is great, but if NASA keeps doing the same shit over and over again on Mars and finding nothing, other than minor shit confirming shit we already knew, then Mars robotics are going to become just as monotonous as the Shuttle program, and people will look back on it and say "Well that was several billion dollars wasted. Why do we even bother spending money on space?" Then they'll get their funding cut again.
If NASA wants the public to get excited about space exploration, they need to do big things that really matter. That's going to take big risks, like the risks took with the Apollo program, but it's worth it. We need to build a base on the Moon. We should use that base on the Moon as a launchpad for more space exploration. We need colonies of people on the Moon and Mars. We need to go all or nothing and stop playing with robots. They're basically billion dollar toys for the scientists at NASA play with and jerk off to. We need to do things that matter.
If NASA wants the public to get excited about space exploration, they need to do big things that really matter. That's going to take big risks, like the risks took with the Apollo program, but it's worth it. We need to build a base on the Moon. We should use that base on the Moon as a launchpad for more space exploration. We need colonies of people on the Moon and Mars. We need to go all or nothing and stop playing with robots. They're basically billion dollar toys for the scientists at NASA play with and jerk off to. We need to do things that matter.
Ks notrip replied with this 14 years ago, 23 minutes later, 16 hours after the original post[^] [v] #372,520
@previous (F)
What NASA can and can't do is strictly limited by funding, they'd love to do big exciting stuff all the time, but they can only do what they can afford. Back during the space race days around 5% of the total federal budget went to NASA, today NASA is working with less then 1%. A seemingly simple moon colony would cost years of the NASA budget just to get going, much less anything spent on keep it going. NASA has sadly been beat to death with budget cuts.
Robots are cheaper than people.
What NASA can and can't do is strictly limited by funding, they'd love to do big exciting stuff all the time, but they can only do what they can afford. Back during the space race days around 5% of the total federal budget went to NASA, today NASA is working with less then 1%. A seemingly simple moon colony would cost years of the NASA budget just to get going, much less anything spent on keep it going. NASA has sadly been beat to death with budget cuts.
Robots are cheaper than people.
(Edited 26 seconds later.)