December 10, 2003

It will never happen. The government has to spend every spare dollar (HA!) on entitlement programs and that is never going change.

I want it to happen. You're right, we should be farther along in space exploration that we are. Let's push the cowards out of the way!

By the way, how is Oddball? Do you let her curl up beside you on the couch? How about a picture of her and Quinton from this coming weekend?

Some day, our sun will nova. If we haven't gotten to space by then, poof goes the human race.

Samizdata is following the commercial space projects. Worth a read, as is their whole blog.

Amen to that brother Acidman, we need to look outward instead of wallowing in our waste, to many chickenshits out there.

What about the funds for the crack ho's who pump out babies like a bilge?

Or the immigrants who have a "right" to a college education at the taxpayer's expense?

Or the reparations for slavery?

Universal healthcare?

I mean, come on, fuck that exploration shit.

We working folk have a "duty" to subsidize the ne're-do-wells, don't we? After all, the founding fathers were socialists, right? Seriously, the whole "personal responsibilty" shit is soooo 1900's.

While I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment of most of the commentary here, especially "RIGHTISRIGHT". There is that gravity problem.

You see, those of us who closely follow the whole space exploration stuff are painfully aware that we have to come up with some sort of artificial gravity solution. Even if all you watch is the Discovery or History Channels you will find out that unless we can conquer that problem; ain't nobody goin' to Mars.

The human body was designed to work in a specific gravity environment. Astronauts who spend months in 0 g also have to spend months recuperating once they come back, even when they stick to a rigorous workout regimen. It is fascinating to listen to their comments about being aware that just sitting at rest, you can feel tremendous pressure.

Conjecture among the Ph.D.s at the JPL is some sort of centrifugal spacecraft. By that, I mean something revolving constantly with the living quarters out on the edge. But such a craft would have to be huge in order to simulate sufficient gravitational conditions.

This isn't the movies. Fairy tale ideas about suspended animation can't replace the realities of what the human body was designed for. Whales and sea lions are designed to be able to dive to incredible depths and come back to the surface. Humans require a lot of technology to survive in such extreme environments.

While it may be possible, it requires a lot more technology than the average person comprehends to pull it off. Of course, most people don't comprehend that with our best propulsion systems to date, it takes about 3 years to travel to Mars. We don't have the resources to launch a craft that could carry a single human being with enough food to make such a trip. Medical technology has not come far enough to make suspended animation feasible.

Any scientists out there with some solutions?

Commander Will, before we ventured into space, everything about it was just a dream. A dream that did come true, through science pushing the envelope; developing whatever technology was necessary. I have no doubt that we will explore further into space. I hope it's during my life-time.

If ever the chance comes to be a pioneer in space I am ready and willing to sign up!

When I was high school age and reading Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Heinlein, Andre Norton and Isaac Asimov, I would sit out in the yard and stare up at the evening sky and cry because I knew I would never be able to travel there.

Nice to know that I'm not alone in that feeling.

Dear Ms Anna,

I am a pilot and a scientist. I do my absolute best to keep an open mind. That's why I asked if there were any scientists out there who knew about something I didn't.

I'm very aware of the technology that exists today. Can someone out there give us something more? I'm all for it.

There comes a time to be realistic.

The Wright brothers were working on flight while their father was telling his congregations that it was not possible. At the time, birds were flying all around and all the Wright brothers were trying to do was understand the scientific principals that made it possible. It is one thing to see possibility all around you and seek to immitate it. It is quite another to dream the impractical and think that you can overcome it in short order. Note that i did not say impossible.

The further we push the boundaries of our technology, the further horizons.

And there is this amazing belief that there is no limit. The concept of the infinite has blinded us to the concept of the finite. Believe me, such a thing exists.

Human beings often forget that there is a balance and justice to nature. If there is a finite, then there must exist an infinite.

Here is something truly puzzling. If you are an athiest, you don't think there is a god and you don't have a soul and when you die, it's all over., why should your posterity think about you, remember you, or honor you? You're nothing. You're dust in the wind.

Nothing you taught them matters. Nothing you did with them matters. If time is nothing but one second following another, and there is no afterlife, then everything we do is aimless, pointless, and for total shit.

If you're going to be brutally honest about atheism, this is it. Nothing freakin' matters. Geoffrey Dahmer made it so clear. If we are all a product of the primordial soup, who cares if we kill or eat each other.

With re to Commander Wills' questions; I submit that both the issues posed are easily dealt with.

1) ...Conjecture among the Ph.D.s at the JPL is some sort of centrifugal spacecraft. By that, I mean something revolving constantly with the living quarters out on the edge. But such a craft would have to be huge in order to simulate sufficient gravitational conditions.

Ok, so make the spacecraft huge. That sounds flippant but I am serious. Two segments bound by a cable could give a sufficient radius to help avoid Corleoris effect (spelling?).

2) ...with our best propulsion systems to date, it takes about 3 years to travel to Mars.

That is true if we limit ourselves to chemical fuel spacecraft. The obvious answer is to shed the anti-nuclear psychoses that seem so prevelent. The exact form of the nuclear propulsion system might be a NERVA unit. (In the '60s' the AEC had units with specific impulses of 850 seconds.) or ORION which was propelled by nuclear explosions. However, lets' NOT launch from the Earths' surface please... (Or the propulsion unit may be something else, the exact form is unimportant right now.)

The issues are complicated and nowhere all solved. However, if we wait to solve them all in advance of going, we'll never go.

As noted in one of the comments above, space colonization is neccessary for the long term survival of the species. Yes, we will loose people. Space is chock full of interesting new ways to die. So what? It's time to expand or die.

If we don't move our asses, China is going to claim the moon.

The biggest problem facing us when it comes to space flight is radiation.

There are four kinds of radiation. Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Nutrino. I don't know if I spelled the last one right, but I'm tired and I don't care. The basics on it all is this:

Alpha radiation can be stopped by a very thin material. Your skin stops it. A piece of paper stops it. Beta requires a bit more, like clothing. The most inherant dangers in those two types of radiation are that they contaminate something that you later eat, drink, or breath into your body. Other than that, you can walk around in it with appropriate clothing, and you'll be fine.

Gamma radiation requires intense amounts of shielding, but that can be handled. Concrete, depleted uranium, and lead and block it., in sufficient quantity.

Nutrino radiation can only be stopped by water. It goes through just about everything else.

The atmosphere blocks almost all the radiation that comes from the sun, but out in space you don't have that protection. Now, they shield the shuttle pretty damn well, but they can't stop all the radiation from getting in. Astronauts take on about 15,000 milirads of radiation from a one week stay on the shuttle. The space station is a bit better shielded, but they still get a huge dose. 15,000 milirads is the maximum amount of radiation that can safely be absorbed in your body before you start to get radiation poisoning.

So until they come up with a way to protect the astronauts from solar radiation, a trip to Mars would end up with several dead bodies in a tin can, crash landing on the surface. They would die from radiation before they ever got there. And it wouldn't be a nice easy death, either.

ooohhh!! Sign me up! I wanna go!!! :-)

Make it your guiding principle to do your best for others and to be trustworthy in what you say. Do not accept as friend anyone who is not as good as you. When you make a mistake do not be afraid of mending your ways.