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seamusTX wrote:It's the lack of a manned space program that is a disappointment.

- Jim

I think our general lack of ambition WRT space is disappointing... Why aren't we talking about what it would take to terraform Mars or Venus? I know it's a bit pie-in-the sky now, but AFAIK we aren't even having serious conversations about what we'd need to do. What's gonna happen when someone figures out FTL travel or a plausible generation ship and we have the technology to colonize other solar systems? Wouldn't it be better to have tried a few things "locally" before setting off across the galaxy?

People are talking about colonizing Mars. See http://www.planetary.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

These are serious, educated people, not a bunch of kooks.

The problem seems to be a widespread sentiment that we are (a) broke, and (b) can't do anything right.

Human society is wealthier now than at any time in history. I'm not talking about the stock market or banking crises. These things are transitory. The average American today is better off than Queen Elizabeth I, who didn't know what a flush toilet, a hot shower, or antibiotics were. We spend more on pet food or beer than the space program.



- Jim

Don't forget: only a couple years ago, NASA's primary mission was changed from space exploration to "improve relations with the Muslim world".

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/07 ... s-muslims/

LikesShinyThings wrote:Don't forget:

Don't remind me.

seamusTX wrote:
At least they're not spending the money on nuclear missiles or aircraft carriers.

- Jim

Oh, but they are spending on nuclear missiles and aircraft carriers. Google is your friend.

I know, but what they spend on their space program is not spent on conventional weapons.

- Jim

The space mission went up without a hitch. The crew of three included China's first woman in space, 33-year-old Liu Yang. She is a military pilot (like most early U.S. and Soviet astronauts) who pulled off a difficult emergency landing several years ago.

The crew will dock with a previously launched Tiangong 1 module, which is sometimes described as a space station, and spend 13 days there.

The Chinese government has announced long-term plans to maintain a space station and send a man to the moon.

China is excluded from participating in the International Space Station as a condition of U.S. funding. Congress wanted to avoid unintended technology transfer.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_n ... u-9-m.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.asianscientist.com/features/ ... yang-2012/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- Jim