Manned Exploration of Space

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Russia resurrects program with EU assistance.

To the moon!

With the possible American expedition to Mars, I think we need a topic here.

[raynev1 1,886]

There's always been some speculation of what the moon is composed of . Water , precious metals and gases ? I guess some think it's worth going back to . Maybe even colonization . I suppose the fleas may have found a not so new host . I was always told a squirrel stores it's nuts for winter . Winter is approaching , isn't it ?

[Easy Bakes 253]

Another  nest to foul . but we should do it anyway.

 

 

[AkemiAzula 280]

I used to think space exploration was a massive waste of taxpayer's money. 

I still find it strange we fund these enourmously costly scientific missions when so many problems on Earth go unfixed.

But I now admit that it was not all in vain and we have discovered useful things from such exploration. Not to mention related technological advancements.

However I still think we will not conquer the universe by rocket ship but by creating a new virtual world and replacing this world.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

The target area appears to be the much unexplored south pole of Luna.  Being the closest body things might be interesting if they can find enough resources for fuel (Hydrogen) and an air plant.  God help you if you don't pay your air tax.

Of course, there also has to be enough other minerals to run a hydroponic plant.  After all, imported food would be more costly than it is in Inuvik by a couple of rows of Christmas trees at least.  Whether a farm animals set up could be achieved is something I don't think they dream of.

For a very skewed look at an attempt to colonize Mars, read Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein.  You have to suspend your disbelief, it is fantasy.

[raynev1 1,886]

Thought I'd give this thread a bump .

   

'STAR WARS’ CLASS WARS: IS MARS THE ESCAPE HATCH FOR THE 1 PERCENT?

http://www.newsweek.com/2015/12/25/mars-colonies-rich-people-404681.html 

I found this interesting .

[AkemiAzula 280]

If the very rich went to another planet a revolution could simply attack/control space launch sites and cut their supplies.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Interesting piece of fantasy.  These guys would not cut themselves off from earthly luxuries.  Mars is a desert and the infamous 1% are not colonizing farmers.  The supply route (if there is one) is long and expensive.  The whole idea is about as practical as Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom.

[raynev1 1,886]

@A Nonny Moose As long as there is a way to create electricity and if there is water , they can grow what they want . You don't need thousands of acres for 1% . Just a bunch of controlled environment facilities . 

   This rock might very well be coming undone (unstable) . They wouldn't tell if it was , it would cause a worldwide panic . Then all the populace wouldn't pave their way to a new Garden of Eden . 

   Most people are very gullible , they'll believe almost anything . With all the fear mongering going on these days , nothing would surprise me . And if the earth were to become unstable , it doesn't leave many alternatives . Does it ?

   When we start trying to colonize the Moon , then Mars would be the next step . That's when it will be time to worry IMO . And I don't put anything past , what the powers that be are capable of .

   But seriously though , to the 1% money's no object . As long as Commerce and Industry continues the way it has , I feel it to be inevitable . 

   I also believe the film and entertainment industry releases bits and pieces of what the future holds for humanity . I like to look at things from various angles . It can give you different perspectives .

[Easy Bakes 253]

the  1%'s are never on the vanguard of exploration/colonization. they let it kill off the 1st few waves then go when its safe.

 

[LexusInfernus 908]

I'm not sure if its that bad if the 1% sods off to Mars. There are a few things to consider. First of all, sure, assuming that its possible to live relatively comfortable on Mars, in order for it to be a sustainable colony people will need to work. Like work work. You need engineers, technicians, people who are capable of working on construction projects in space suits. Does that sound like the 1% to you? The most technically proficient among them are a bunch of Nerds who wrote a piece of software, or worse, a mobile app. The rest of them are CEO's. 

So for them to live comfortably on their new colony, they either need workers who are capable of doing all the dangerous jobs, or they need sufficiently advanced robots that can do all the work for them. In the first scenario, the 1% is not the 1% and that colony is unlikely to accept having a bunch of useless rich people around who are coasting on the stuff they did back on earth. More importantly, the colony can't handle so much uselessness for a long period of time. 

In the second case, if robots can do all that stuff, robots are also likely to have taken over most jobs back on earth, as operating on earth is still easier and cheaper for robots than operating in space. If thats the case, there is a good chance that the entire economic model has shifted away from contemporary Capitalism as that would not be sustainable when robots do most of the work. 

Finally, in the worst case scenario, when the 1% somehow moves to Mars and manages to set up a sustainable colony all by themselves, well let them, if they aren't around to pillage the earth, maybe the rest of us can get some change done for once, and repair the damage these scumbags caused. They are gone, we set up the UNSC/Alliance, build a spaceship with a mass accelerator cannon, pierce their envirodomes and the 1% is no more. I'd be more worried if they went to some kind of Elysium type Dyson sphere space station in orbit around earth. Safe from everyone, yet close enough to maintain control. Although even there, it would just take one well placed piece of debris to crash the whole thing. 

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

If you fellows have not, I suggest you dig out an old stage play written in 1920 called R.U.R.  This kind of speculation was rampant after WW I all the way up to around 1970.  Central European writers were rather depressed on the future of mankind nearly 100 years ago, and things didn't quite go the way they expected.  Another good one is H.G. Welles' 1933 Novel The Shape of Things to Come.  In this one, predictions are made to 2106, but we seem to have muddled through without the World State.  Of course in those days everyone was into gassing people.

[Fantozzi 4,067]

Hurry up!

NASA seeks new astronauts until feb. 18. 2016. Doesn't that mean they prepare something?

 

https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/423817000

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

^ Not necessarily.  They have to replace ageing cadre.

NASA is know to be working on new ideas in space drives, but Newtonian engines seem to be all anyone has so far.  Much money has been blown past the tail fins using weirder and weirder fuel mixtures, but this is not the way to go to anyplace farther away than Mars.