livescience.com — There is fierce debate over the direction humanity should take when exploring the solar system. Plans for human exploration of the solar system and beyond often polarize opinions among the public and scientific communities.
Jan 22, 2009 View in Crawl 4
harabeckJan 23, 2009
Maybe in the far far off future offrdbandit, more immediately(like in a century or so), there will be a growing population on Mars that will eat the plants grown on Mars.
scout29cJan 23, 2009
The problem with space travel is gravity or the lack there of. Moon missions and extended stays at the space station have shown human being can not go for long with out gravity’s effect on our life processes. Our bodies have evolved with the constant presents of gravity. Astronauts returning to the earth’s surface even after a short stay on the space station need help getting around for a few days.With current technology, even a short trip such as to Mars would require an exercise program so that when the astronauts got there, they would be able to walk around. And we have not found that exercise program, yet.Of course, we could evolve a line of humans that could live whole life in space, but they would have to have a special suit to come down to earth.Or we could develop artificial gravity, but to do that we have to know what gravity is, and from what I understand, there is an argument between special relativist and quantum physicist as to what exactly gravity is. We can calculate it effect to such degree as hitting a spot on Mars or putting a football in another man’s hand 30 yards downfield, but we don’t know what it is.And if we came to know and make gravity, we might gain such insight that the talk of traveling to another planet would seem quaint. Sort of like early man’s quest for a fire. Look where that lead.
waspbrJan 23, 2009
not true, there's a great deal of water(generally ice from comets) on the moon, it would be somewhat enough for a a very small population but there are 3 big barriers to be overcome.1. Radiation2. Extreme temperatures - too cold during lunar night, too hot during lunar day3. Money - once resources come before profit then we may have a chance
chirtJan 24, 2009
@offrdbandit:Who's to say the people being born on the Moon would need to survive on the Earth? People born on the Moon would be more suited for space travel than Earthlings.Not to mention our biotech will most likely be able to cope with any problems we might have.
dealjobberJan 24, 2009
Well, who knows what we can accomplish in the next 100 years. We've done a lot in the last 100. Granted it takes astronomical proportions (converting the mass of Jupiter into pure energy for a tiny little jump) to bend space how they have it down on paper. Who knows, maybe we'll find some loophole in physics that'll make it possible. We know that warping space would allow to "fool" the surrounding space around it into FTL travel, maybe there's a way to make it seem like you can fool whatever (space-time, I guess) into thinking you're putting out a lot more energy. I think of it like the atom bomb. Yes, we always knew how to make things go boom. Just like now we know that space can be curved or warped. But using all that TNT for that big of an explosion isn't possible. (well it is, except for this the gap is bigger)
graehJan 25, 2009
jesus h. simean.
crazedleperJan 26, 2009
@designerutah said:"If our government were capable of pulling off such a big hoax in the 60s (thousands of people involved, and they had to put something into space because there was too many people watching/listening to pull it off without), think what they must be hiding today!"I never said they didn't put anything *into space*. I'm sure they did, just not on the moon. I would think the Hubble telescope would be able to spot the site of the moon landing -- had there been one, but I haven't seen those pictures, yet. And yes, I'm sure they're hiding quite a bit today, the American people make that relatively easy.-------------------------------------"Get serious. Deception IS part of any successful government. To their own people, their enemies, and even their friends. Why should a government be any different than the humans who run it? We lie to ourselves and each other all the time. "Well, I'm glad that you are aware of that truth, however, why the casual acceptance of the unacceptable? If you know the government deceives you, how do you know when they're not?------------------------------------"The problem with the whole tinfoil hat thing and government conspiracy is that you start with the assumption that our government is so good at telling lies that we can't PROVE them false very quickly. "The issue of proving government lies false is moot when the populace is so willing to believe them. People don't want to know that their government is intractably evil so they don't prove it, most don't even question government lies. Of course, that only makes matters worse.--------------------------------------------Historically, they've been pretty horrible at keeping the lid on a lie unless it's limited to only a few people. keeping the truth contained is called "compartmentalization". It's quite easy to do, again, all the more so when people want to believe the lie.-----------------------------------------"But good luck with the stupidity... hope all that "God will save us and our Government conspires against us all the time" stuff works for you in the long run."Huh?
Closed AccountJan 28, 2009
No of course not you moron...but why would you fix your neighbors plumbing first when you house being flooded by your own?