A Moonbase now. junk the ISS moneypit
- Thread starter dumpthemonarchy
- Start date
Why bother going up a bit to the ISS when a larger shot takes us to a moon? Already the ISS sucks billions for a tin can that will soon fall to Earth in a crash and burn spectacle. A depressing thought to me.
The moon has water, good for people and essential for fuel. The ISS has got nothing.
As for medical care, that is an important concern, but the moon is only a few days away. The proposals to go to Mars I see as nuts because medical care is a year or two away at some points. Not everyone is interested in space, but as it stands now, there is no space future here to look forward to.
We can try and solve all the world's problems all we want. The thing is, we won't solve all of the problems on this planet.... we won't solve all the problems on another planet or the whole universe.
So should we just sit on this planet for the rest of our existence until our sun dies out or an asteroid wipes us all out?
Nobody is perfect, nothing we do will ever be perfect.... thus living on this planet or any other planet will not be perfect either.
But when it comes to survival of our species and perhaps other species of this planet, we need to learn how to find and live on other suitable planets..... or make planets into ones we can live on.
We're like a big fish in a little pond..... that's the real cause of most of our problems on this planet... too many people, too much of a hog on resources.
Like any animal, you can't stay in one place for too long, before all the food is used up, your sh*t and waste kills the land and you also need to evolve, otherwise you'll soon end up extinct.... and the sooner you move on from one location, the less damage you do on that land, the quicker that land can recoup so that one day you can come back.
Take a chunk of our population, split it in two on two or more different planets, reduce the resource drain on Earth.... reduce the drain on those planets by not moving to that planet with everybody because we waited until the last minute when our planet is dead to do all this..... increase the chances of the survival of humanity.
The only real way you're ever going to solve most of the problems in the world is by reducing the population of humanity.... Besides wars and genocide, the only logical solution is to find more real estate out in space.
Working on how to make beds more comfy with memory foam in zero gravity isn't really a great way of bettering mankind.
So should we just sit on this planet for the rest of our existence until our sun dies out or an asteroid wipes us all out?
Nobody is perfect, nothing we do will ever be perfect.... thus living on this planet or any other planet will not be perfect either.
But when it comes to survival of our species and perhaps other species of this planet, we need to learn how to find and live on other suitable planets..... or make planets into ones we can live on.
We're like a big fish in a little pond..... that's the real cause of most of our problems on this planet... too many people, too much of a hog on resources.
Like any animal, you can't stay in one place for too long, before all the food is used up, your sh*t and waste kills the land and you also need to evolve, otherwise you'll soon end up extinct.... and the sooner you move on from one location, the less damage you do on that land, the quicker that land can recoup so that one day you can come back.
Take a chunk of our population, split it in two on two or more different planets, reduce the resource drain on Earth.... reduce the drain on those planets by not moving to that planet with everybody because we waited until the last minute when our planet is dead to do all this..... increase the chances of the survival of humanity.
The only real way you're ever going to solve most of the problems in the world is by reducing the population of humanity.... Besides wars and genocide, the only logical solution is to find more real estate out in space.
Working on how to make beds more comfy with memory foam in zero gravity isn't really a great way of bettering mankind.
Since when have people bothered this planet? Even if the whole lot of us were piled up we wouldn't make a decent ski hill. Earth is in no danger whatsoever from humans. This planet has repeatedly undergone extinction events and life always sprouts right back up again.
The universe is a dangerous place and we need to live on other planets to avoid mass extinction which has happened before on Earth. We are only one of many species on the planet and a rapid change in atmospheric conditions can wipe us out, but not all species. Living on another celestial body is essential for human existence.
I saw on a National Geographic where volcanic eruptions burn coal and cause global warming on an intense scale and most life on Earth dies-90% in the ocean. Time to move on, simply because we can.
And I agree, we humans don't "hurt" the Earth as much as some whining enviros claim.
Darkbeaver,
I believe we have at least 380,000 years of "Prehistory", in which Homo Sapiens had roamed the Earth and evidently did nothing... More accurately, we're probably not the first mega civilizations and others have gone through the same set of achievements, decline, near-extinction, et al; the Rig Veda does after all describe air battles (which people mistake for aliens but more likely could have been an older human civilization).
After all if you have seen the documentary "Life after People", it wouldn't take long (just 500-1000 years) for our concrete jungles and wooden homes to be completely destroyed through erosion.
Goes without saying that unless we achieve space colonization we will not break our cycle of collapse, though nevertheless (despite the doomsayers), humans in theory may still be around for another 400,000 years...
Even then there are "living fossils" on this planet, species that are 2-5 millions years old, that have no connection to other living organisms. So effectively, humans may very well be going through civilization after civilization, until the sun blows up, the earth stops spinning or humans somehow manage to destroy the atmosphere.
We don't run this planet nor will we ever run any other. The microbes rule. One itsy bitsy ameoba can make you **** yourself to death.
Now that is true power.
Now that is true power.
The more we learn about our physical world, the better off we'll be. Just ten years ago, who knew of killer asteroids that could pound the Earth and cause a mass extinction? Wasn't in the news much. Now there are solar storms that could knock our electrical systems and cause mayhem.
Getting off with a permanent moon base is one way to prevent such disaster from ending our species. A permanent moon base won't devour hundreds of billions, only tens of billions. Considering the subsidies business gets, it seems worth it. But there is little political support going into space. Yet we spend billions each year on the ISS.
Canada made the Canadarm, so what's next? What has the Canadarm done for the country lately?
Does a moonbase make for a good video game? Does NASA have the right idea to work out various moon base technologies thru something as simple as a game. No question in my mind, we will have some sort of moon base on the Moon by 2050.
by Jeff Foust
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
As the media landscape fragments, organizations like NASA have increasingly come to realize they need to reach out to “nontraditional” platforms to get their message across. The agency already has an impressive web presence, something that has evolved from a nice-to-have to a need-to-have. NASA has also made a major push in social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, even hosting “tweetups” at shuttle launches and in mission control. NASA is now making its latest effort to reach out to the public—or at least some slice of it—in a nontraditional way: a video game.
The Space Review: Does a moonbase make for a good video game?
by Jeff Foust
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
As the media landscape fragments, organizations like NASA have increasingly come to realize they need to reach out to “nontraditional” platforms to get their message across. The agency already has an impressive web presence, something that has evolved from a nice-to-have to a need-to-have. NASA has also made a major push in social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, even hosting “tweetups” at shuttle launches and in mission control. NASA is now making its latest effort to reach out to the public—or at least some slice of it—in a nontraditional way: a video game.
The Space Review: Does a moonbase make for a good video game?
A video game is not what NASA is really all about. NASA ought to be about serious spacefaring and space coloniization. NASA has to give the impression it is going towards the stars. Otherwise they're just another bunch of geeks hacking around. They'e losing my interest these ays.
First you create on paper, then create a simulation, then the real thing. NASA will have us on the moon soon. Their budget cut will not last more than 2012. 
I hope.
I hope.First you create on paper, then create a simulation, then the real thing. NASA will have us on the moon soon. Their budget cut will not last more than 2012.
Oh oh, I smell a conspiracist, you think they really didn't go to the moon. However, when was the last time the Hubble telescope took a few pix of the US flag?
A moon base is the next big thing, with long term potential. Really, it's a big construction project. I wonder why trades and associations don't pass resolutions in support of it because it means jobs.
No, I believe they went to the moon
They could start the moon base by 2012 if they wanted to. Big thing will be the funding and which countries will cooperate to develop and build it. We can do almost anything if we want it bad enough.
Does that include boinking Jessica Alba.
Question....what does the moon have that makes it attractive for a base.
Yes it does.
Other than a jumping off point for deep space, resources, medical research. Finally something we can exploit without worrying about global warming.
No, I believe they went to the moon
That's good, they really went there.
The funding now is an issue but not impossible. They key is to discuss this and create public support, which is not easy to do. A redirection of money is largely required due to that great sucking maching called the ISS.
Guess were all spoiled, back in the 1960's anything NASA did was big news and today it just like another airplane taking off. (big deal). I have witnessed two Space Shuttle launches from about 5 miles away and there is nothing so powerful than that sound and sight. I live about 80-90 miles south of the space center and in clear weather you can still see it and hear a far off rumble as it passes overhead. The funding is an issue, but I don't think the ISS has anything to do with it. It in itself is a fantastic achievement that will also get us into space and on the Moon as well as Mars faster.
What delays in the new Space Shuttle are not from what is happening to the budgets today, all this delay started about 10 years ago when the STS (Space Transportation System) kept being put on hold. Now the shuttles are aging and have to be recycled and converted into these new ones. (not sure I like that idea: chopping one up to make a better one)
The ISS is the stepping stone to having a Moonbase and after that Mars, of course this will probably not happen in our life time.