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moon landing failure on 21:12 - Mar 7 by jontysnut
It's all the fault of the woke, globalist liberal elite moving the moon about when no-one was looking.
Nah, it’s Zelenski and Ukraine’s fault.
On a serious note one for the knowledgeable people on this stuff like SB - why are millions being spent messing about with the Moon and potentially Mars? I loved the idea of Martians, Total Recall etc. I can just about remember the Armstrong and co 1969 onwards, Airfix rockets, space board games and loved Star Trek. But there’s nothing there.
Surely the Apollo missions proved that and while satellites, space telescopes etc provide benefits (and dis benefits), doesn’t that image of a fragile earth taken from the Moon show there are more important things to do than p$ss about bouncing around on dead planets?
I accept am slightly hypocritical on this as I find explorers (Shackleton etc) fascinating. However, as a space ignoramus, I’d be interested to hear the views of people who know about space exploration.
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moon landing failure on 09:16 - Mar 8 with 745 views
moon landing failure on 08:59 - Mar 8 by Churchman
Nah, it’s Zelenski and Ukraine’s fault.
On a serious note one for the knowledgeable people on this stuff like SB - why are millions being spent messing about with the Moon and potentially Mars? I loved the idea of Martians, Total Recall etc. I can just about remember the Armstrong and co 1969 onwards, Airfix rockets, space board games and loved Star Trek. But there’s nothing there.
Surely the Apollo missions proved that and while satellites, space telescopes etc provide benefits (and dis benefits), doesn’t that image of a fragile earth taken from the Moon show there are more important things to do than p$ss about bouncing around on dead planets?
I accept am slightly hypocritical on this as I find explorers (Shackleton etc) fascinating. However, as a space ignoramus, I’d be interested to hear the views of people who know about space exploration.
Musk wants to brag that he has a bigger dead planet than you. It's essentially willy-waving.
Don't believe a word I say. I'm only kidding. Or am I?
moon landing failure on 08:59 - Mar 8 by Churchman
Nah, it’s Zelenski and Ukraine’s fault.
On a serious note one for the knowledgeable people on this stuff like SB - why are millions being spent messing about with the Moon and potentially Mars? I loved the idea of Martians, Total Recall etc. I can just about remember the Armstrong and co 1969 onwards, Airfix rockets, space board games and loved Star Trek. But there’s nothing there.
Surely the Apollo missions proved that and while satellites, space telescopes etc provide benefits (and dis benefits), doesn’t that image of a fragile earth taken from the Moon show there are more important things to do than p$ss about bouncing around on dead planets?
I accept am slightly hypocritical on this as I find explorers (Shackleton etc) fascinating. However, as a space ignoramus, I’d be interested to hear the views of people who know about space exploration.
on the "failure", which I dont consider a failure really, they got to the moon (thats really hard to do actually its a moving target you have to get your maths spot on to get there), they attempted a landing it ended up in a non nominal situation, but its still data and learning we capture for the next mission, space is hard, progress is not linear.
as for the more global question, why moon? why mars ? in the grand scheme of things of all the things we spend billions on on this planet, and that includes wars, the amount of money spent on space exploration is a tiny amount.
my favourite example always being the value of the American/European (not even global just the America & Europe) pet treat (and these are treats not food or things pets really actually need) market is larger in dollar size, than the total amount spent by NASA on all its space exploration projects.
its 33billion dollars vs 24billion. and Spacex turnover is about 10billion. So you know we spend roughly as much just making pets happy as we do exploring the universe, its up to you which you think is more important.
So why go to the moon or mars, well its the pursuit of human knowledge and scientific discovery, expands our understanding of the universe and our place in it, the technological advances required to do it ultimately benefit all of humanity, and the actual missions themselves inspire the next generation of teachers, scientists, technologists.
and yes it teaches us more about the fragility of the Earth, the Apollo astronauts always said we went to the moon but we discovered the Earth, there is something unique about seeing that small blue marble suspended in space all alone and to quote Carl Sagan " it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.” You only get that perspective from looking back at the Earth.
there are obviously resources on both moon and Mars that can be mined, theres a belief, low gravity or zero g environments actually allow you to combine elements and create purer materials that are stronger, better, more resilient, than the same techniques on Earth produce.
plus the threat of a cataclysmic asteroid hitting the Earth is real, its happened before, could happen again, we really dont have the data to tell, a human presence on the moon we could increase our ability to observe the universe for objects approaching without the limitations of Earths atmosphere affecting it, and Mars could then be a useful safe harbour or even place to launch a mission to deflect it, because the orbital mechanics then give you more options.
ultimately the Sun turns into a red giant and consumes the Earth so humanity if it wants to continue, must choose to leave the Earth, so consider it step 1 of that very long billions of years journey ahead, but a step we must take eventually, just like cavemen took the step from hunter gathers to farmers, that gives you the life you have now, these might be choices that benefit much future generations more directly than our own.
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moon landing failure on 14:59 - Mar 8 with 588 views
moon landing failure on 08:59 - Mar 8 by Churchman
Nah, it’s Zelenski and Ukraine’s fault.
On a serious note one for the knowledgeable people on this stuff like SB - why are millions being spent messing about with the Moon and potentially Mars? I loved the idea of Martians, Total Recall etc. I can just about remember the Armstrong and co 1969 onwards, Airfix rockets, space board games and loved Star Trek. But there’s nothing there.
Surely the Apollo missions proved that and while satellites, space telescopes etc provide benefits (and dis benefits), doesn’t that image of a fragile earth taken from the Moon show there are more important things to do than p$ss about bouncing around on dead planets?
I accept am slightly hypocritical on this as I find explorers (Shackleton etc) fascinating. However, as a space ignoramus, I’d be interested to hear the views of people who know about space exploration.
If they find ice on the moon, it can serve as a fuel station in the future for further exploration into space and ditto for other planets. I'm not an expert but my simplistic understanding is that water can be split into hydrogen and oxygen - hydrogen for fuel, oxygen for breathing and water for drinking and I guess with abundant sunshine on the bright side of the moon you could harness the solar power.
The billionaires of this world have probably realised that Earth is "cooked" (both metaphorically and atmospherically) and a new liveable planet can offer the similar opportunities for wealth/power "a better life" and a chance to be in the history books. Similar to the opportunities presented to the first/early settlers of America.
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