A small step for man, a giant leap for mankind

[Martin]

The company I work for wrote some of the on-board software for the probe - so you might regard me as being rather biased (which I am :twisted, but I think there's lots of ancillary benefit to space exploration that people tend to forget when they see $3.2bn dollar headlines like this.

Apart from some of those already mentioned (velcro, teflon etc.), the space business is a worldwide industry that generates lots of economic benefit for the countries involved. The prime contractor for the probe was French, but they employed the services of around 40 sub-contractors throughout Europe to build it, including some within the UK. So even though European tax-money was used to build it, that investment comes back to the countries that invested, creating jobs and furthering skills and technological advances in those countries that spin off into other areas.

These space programmes often have University involvement, so its not just "big business" that benefits. For example, on Huygens, Kent University provided the Surface Science package for the probe.

That aside, I think the general point mentioned by Alf and others really holds true - its only by advancing and pursuing new boundaries that we really can advance. If we didn't, where would we be today? Would the car, jet airliner, etc. be in existance? At the end of the day it's just boundaries - hiking all the way back to Columbus and "the flat earth". Why should space be treated differently?

Martin.

 

[Anonymous]

I honestly believe that "out there" is where humanity belongs.

I think "out there" may eventually be mankind's only hope of survival

That's true, but there's a big part of me that says that mankind shouldn't be allowed to set foot off this planet until they've got their act together. That means living in harmony with each other and being peaceable without all the warmongering going on.

And that's where it falls flat for me, because mankinds typical behaviour is to shoot first and ask questions later. For all the justification that people like George Bush put on it, you cannot install peace by warmongering.

Say we arrive on another planet and there are animals chopping each other up and eating the remains, because that's the way they are. Before long homo sapien will decide to take sides, thus the balance of nature might be dented.

My first rule with regard to people leaving this planet is that there should be an automatic barring of anyone who had been a politician. Scientists, no problem, but we don't want a saddam hussein character being put in charge of the Enterprise.

Andrew

 

[Midnight]

That means living in harmony with each other and being peaceable without all the warmongering going on.

a worthy goal... but to get there, yer gonna have to render 3 institutions obsolete... an that won't be easy; each have vested interests in their longevity... their title alone renders any explanation unnecessary...

Politics...

Religion...

Commerce...

You need to create a system that does away with superiority, making everybody equally important, render money obsolete; if stuff needs doin ya get off yer ass n do it... give people something tangible to believe in, education, purpose, belonging.... achieve all that and space travel will be a breeze by comparison...

 

[Anonymous]

I hear ya Mike. And I suspect that one day what you suggest may come to pass. Yes, really.

What will be required is an event of cataclysmic proportions of the like we've never had to face before. For example, scientists discover that a black hole is making its way towards us and we've got only a limited amount of time to protect our species (obviously this wouldn't an event that was going to take place tomorrow - for that you'd have to say goodbye to your tootsies).

Now that would focus minds. Firing a couple of nukes at the black hole wouldn't divert it, we know that mother is going to arrive on the 14th June 3007 and nothing we can do is going to stop it from happening. Bye bye earth etc. I love you Mum, Dad, dog, next door neighbour, Tony Bliar, etc (no, hang on a minute, leave Bliar out of that list - bring on the black hole!).

Whilst I expect politicians and their ilk will want to have the usual jabbering session about this in a meeting that will last 500 years before a decision is reached the inevitable conclusion will be that either something has to be done, or nothing has to be done. Maybe the solution is to quietly execute any scientist that is in danger of revealing the situation so that the general population won't find out until it's too late (maybe that's happening already for all we know...). Now in my book that's not very likely given that the politicians know their a..e is going to get nailed, they are self-preserving species at all times and will come to realise that if they make the wrong decision then oops!

Alternatively, we finally get to the position that mankind has never reached before where we universally agree to a common purpose and put aside our differences. Those minorities that can't fall in line (there's bound to be a few) get executed on sight, by order of the world high commission.

Alternatively we just get some beers in and have a darn good party

Andrew

 

[Aragorn]

What will be required is an event of cataclysmic proportions of the like we've never had to face before.

Just do an internet search for the year 2012. Only 7 years to go!

 

[Anonymous]

Do you think that London should withdraw its Olympic bid then?

Howard

 

[ike]

Just one failure that I can note from the news reports - one of the two communications channels on the probe isn't working,

Apparently, this was due to (and I quote ESA) "human error", and is the subject of an "internal investigation".

"Yup, OK boss, I've pressed the red button". 8)......"what!, you said the GREEN button? ... oh b*****ks!!!" :shock:

 

[Les Mahon]

Ok, this is slightly out of date, but was posted when the mars probe landed...

Earth to Mars
Distance: Approx. 77 Million kms
NASA Spirit Cost: Approx. 321 Million
Launched: 10-06-2003
Landed: Jan 2004
Status: Working

Luas:
Length of first two lines: Approx. 25kms
Luas cost so far: Approx. 675 million
Construction of Line A, commenced in September 1999.
Status: Not working


For those not familiar, LUAS is the light railway system in dublin, which incedentally is now working (light railway is a nice new term for trams, to stop people asking why the tram tracks removed 50 years ago were being put back!)

As previous posters have said, politics will always get in the way of good progress, principally because no politician will safely think beyond the next election (Of course this does not hold true in dictatorships, but that's another point all together)

I like the notion of a peacable human race, and the provision of health care etc. to save the lives of children, but this is always a complex issue - for example every year we here about the floods in bangladesh, and the number of people killed, this is a country twice the size of ireland, with a population of 141 million people, half of the country floods every year. Cruel though it might sound, mother nature knows how to maintain a balance using natural selection, no amount of the space budget will "solve" the problem in bangladesh, evolution and education combined over a long period will bring about some form of balance.

Just my opinions!

 

[Anonymous]

Just do an internet search for the year 2012. Only 7 years to go!

Hmm. Interesting.

Perhaps this means that is the year the Labour government doesn't get re-elected? And the tories are clinging to their party with just 5 seats at westminster.

Andrew

 

[Midnight]

here's a thought...

with the steady decline in voter turn out at elections, it doesn't take too much projection to see a day when nobody votes... would that mean that due to lack of public interest, politics has been canceled.??????

what would they do then?? all that talking inside em, and no mandate to sprout it... talk amongst themselves....????? no wait, that's what they do anyway... anybody ever figure what it is they actually do???... besides BS that is..

 

[Anonymous]

... would that mean that due to lack of public interest, politics has been canceled.??????

..

we can only live in hope Mike

 

[Anonymous]

what would they do then?? all that talking inside em, and no mandate to sprout it... talk amongst themselves....????? no wait, that's what they do anyway... anybody ever figure what it is they actually do???... besides BS that is..

I often wonder exactly why politicians are so mad keen on identity cards. In the public interest be damned, they've got ulterior motives behind this I reckon. And part of that might well be to get a tab on people's voting habits.

I don't actually mind the idea of compulsory voting at election time, but it must be coupled with an extra option "none of the above" so that you register your vote without making a preference for candidate.

Andrew