"NASA warned plan to send humans to Mars may fail" Topic

"The US space agency NASA has been warned that its mission to send humans to Mars will fail unless its revamps its methods and draws up a clear, well-planned strategy to conquer the red planet.

The National Research Council said in a congressionally-mandated report that Washington should use "stepping stones" to achieve its goal of a manned flight to Mars.

This could involve exploring an asteroid, building a moon outpost or building more international cooperation with countries like China…"
Full article here
link

Amicalement
Armand

The saddest thing about manned space flight is that we have gone from celebrating accomplishments to remembering anniversaries.

The only reason Kennedy wanted to go to the moon was because he was afraid the Russians would beat us to it.
We also had the cash to afford it.

The only reason that the Apollo mission was supported was because it was going on, and was in the news. There is no inherent desire to explore space, despite what science fiction nerds insist.
I am glad we went, and I stayed up all night to watch Armstrong step out. But was it really important? Not really. Can we afford to go to Mars? Not unless we radically re-prioritize which bottomless pits governments throw money down. Now, the priority is to buy off voters who do not contribute anything, and that is both "political parties" in the US. That will not change.
So, we are stuck on earth.

I don't think we really are there technologically yet to attempt anything so bold … not too mention the cost … But once our alien brothers land we can hitch a ride with them … until they think we can handle their tech on our own … without killing each other off …

"There is no inherent desire to explore space"

Maybe you don't have that, John, but plenty of others do.

Richard Branson, do you really think he'll stick to suborbital hops?
Bigelow Aerospace, who came up with inflatable space station modules? NASA contracted them to add such a module to the ISS, and they plan to build their own private space station!
The two (that I've heard off) asteroid mining companies that have been founded. One of them ran a Kickstarter campaign to help fund a space telescope…
All the teams that are competng in the X-prize to land a private probe on the moon?
The Mars One intitiative that wants to send people to Mars, one way only…

And then there's Elon Musk of SpaceX who apparently plans to retire on Mars. Having your own rocket company helps off course :-)
his company is about to revolutionize space flight. They have already tested landing the frist stage back on earth after a launch with the last supply mission to the ISS. In the ocean for a first test, but they plan do land one back at the Cape on a mission later this year.
And for the manned version of their current capsule they are going for powered landings!!! as he said himself: This is how you land a spacecraft in the 21st century.
And he is looking at sending a manned flyby mission to Mars… in 2018!!!!

After the first hops into space, fueled by the cold war, we have been content with playing on the porch (ISS). The next wave of human space exploration will no lunger be funded by governments, but by enterprises and rich private persons. And at afraction of the cost.

My guess? The next space station to be built will be a hotel.

Maybe you don't have that, John, but plenty of others do.

Take a Poll, not of TMP or science fiction fans, but of … humanity.
"Do you think we should explore Space?" 60% Yes to Maybe.
"Would you be willing to pay for it?" 10% Yes to Maybe.

The next wave of human space exploration will no longer be funded by governments, but by enterprises and rich private persons. And at a fraction of the cost.

And what will their return on investment be? There are not enough Heinlein Heroes to go around, and their heirs will put a quick stop to such stuff when their inheritance is at stake.

i've seen a few of the videos of people "picked" to go to mars.
yeah. idiots.

"Capricorn One"…

imdb.com/title/tt0077294

P.

link

@marcus

Interesting. It appears that in getting to the moon we can clearly say "never has so much been done with so little."

Space exploration captured the public imagination in the '50s, '60s, and '80s. The lag of the '70s came with the triple whammy of LBJ, Nixon/Ford and Carter, when social spending whining became the coin of the day. Reagan at least kicked that aside, going whole hog on the Shuttle program, though that was an overbuilt, inefficient system, however beautiful to watch. Unfortunately, the Challenger disaster put a damper on things (even as it revealed the Shuttle's design shortcomings). Bush I didn't much care about NASA, or know what to do with it. Then the social spending whining returned with Clinton, and the subsequent reaction movement to cut the bloat eyed NASA as being equally unnecessary, aided by a bad bit of bungling on NASA's part and Clinton administration's attempt to turn NASA into nothing but a wing of its foreign policy via the ISS (overpriced, underbuilt, and in the wrong orbit). This didn't actually reduce NASA's budget, but space exploration had twin black eyes coming from both ends of the spectrum. The left didn't care about it except as an appeasement to the science side of academia, and opposed it on the social side, while the right saw it as just another source of waste spending, and couldn't seem to see beyond it as anything but a PR "stunt" machine (Bush II). And things aren't any better now on that front, aside from the long-needed realization that "space trucking" is basically best handled by the new commercial providers of SpaceX and competitors.

BUT I maintain that the right leadership and vision could return space exploration to the forefront of the public imagination, in part because space exploration is in and of itself nothing short of amazing. That we can leave this planet and reach out even to the stars themselves may well be the most astounding achievement of the human race. It says that we are more than just self-obsessed eating machines, more than just whiny "gimmethats" and vacuum-headed celebrity worshipers. No, we are creatures of intelligence, vision, and drive. We are indeed, "a little lower than the angels," and we aspire to have wings.

And to those who whine about the cost, I ask you, where is that money spent? It is not spent on the Moon or Mars or even the distant stars-- it is spent here, on Earth. And it is not spent to kill or thrill or titillate, nor to make us fatter or lazier or less able. It is spent to create, to build, to imagine, to seek challenges for the human mind and meet them, indeed, exceed them. And in that seeking and creating and building, will not thereby countless thousands, even millions be able to feed themselves? Will they not also come to dream for and indeed find better lives? Will not their children see science and education and engineering and exploring as the keys to their own futures? Will not their heroes become men and women of intelligence, bravery, ability and skill? Far, far better to revere the scientist over the celebrity, the explorer over the exploiter, and the dreamer over the fool. So I say, if there is going to be a public endeavor, then pick one that is noble, enduring and grand, and one that is worthy of the genius of Man.

Parzival, I think I'm going to cry. That was beautiful.

Excellent thread Parzival!.
As usual!
You are nb. one in TMP writers.

Many thanks!.
Armand