One of these days Alice!
 

I really really hope this is true.

http://www.nationalreview.com/commen...0312030858.asp

I really hope this is true, and its not because its GW doing it, I'd have applauded Clinton or even Carter in a heartbeat for the same type of action. Space exploration is where the future of mankind lies, the long term benefits can not be denied, and every dollar is a well spent investment in our survival as a species.

Agreed.
We have realized many benefits from the space program.
I want to see a national objective of landing humans on mars by 2010.

I want to vacation on Mars. I'm excited for this.
I'm glad he's pushing the importance of Space exploration.

I'm all for the commercialization of the space program. It's not really going to explode until people can make a profit on it. Billboards on spaceships may be ugly, but if it gets us to Mars first, it's worth it.

I think there is already a StarBucks on Mars. :D

"Mars Needs Conservatives!"

Ok, time to see the vision thing. I hope its for manned flights and not robots. Will wait until the speech is up before praise or fault is offered.

2Wolves

If it is true than i am excited. Maybe one day i'll be able to see the earth from the outside.

Name one.

And I retain the right to discount things like NASA's "upside down writing pen" as examples.

Would the billions of dollars not be better spent on helping the poor, researching a cure for AIDS or cancer, improving education etc?


Mr Mephisto (playing Devil's Advocate)

How about two dozen +/- ?

http://vesuvius.jsc.nasa.gov/er/seh/spinoff.html

I'd really like to howl at an earth rise for a change.

2Wolves

Wow, that is the best list of advancements we achieved through the space program I have ever seen.

It makes the links I have for it look pathetic.

That just earned a spot in my bookmarks for the next time someone asks me that question.


VELCRO!

If we ever do anything right I sure hope you let us know.

No.

We've apparently already stuck it to Einsteins speed limit, I think their's more potential in exploring other local planets then there is in curing AID's or cancer. Also, screw the poor.

Been quite mad for space since reading
R. A. Heinlien's juv novels. I even have a friend who is a "rocket scientist." Ultra-violet level of cool.

2Wolves

Meh. We can't even take care of one rock in space, why should we go despoiling more? I say solve the problems on one planet before we go starting problems on another planet. (Or a moon.)

So what we have here are technological advancements, most probably developed originally by NASA, that find everyday use.

Fine.

But that wasn't my point. These are technological advancements that would most likely occur anyway. Also, these are not benefits that have accrued to mankind because of the exploration of space. Rather, they are a result of the billions spent on R&D. It's a fine distinction. Even the name of the page speaks volumes to me. "Spinoff". In otherwords, there are no direct benefits of space exploration to humanity. The sun is still going to explode and fry everything in the solar systems in x millions(billions?) of years. The speed of light is still a fundamental barrier to extra-solar system exploration.

The military spins off more benefits to the general public than anything else. Does that mean we should promote war?

By all means, spend money on research. Just don't fool yourself that we're anywhere close to some SciFi StarTrek or StarWars nonesense.

:-)

Mr Mephisto (Devil's Advocate)

If you're aware of the speed of light being broken, I'd be very interested in hearing about it.

I'm quite sure there are probably a few men in dark glasses who work for the Government who would also like to "talk" to you in private...

Also, what added "potential" is there in exploring other planets? Potential for what? More Challenger disasters?

Your consideration for the poor and sick is heart warming. But not in a good dude. Not in a good way.


Mr Mephisto

This, I just don't understand.

Are you being sarcastic? Perhaps a little bitter?

If so, I think you've missed my point entirely. Do you know what "Devil's Advocate" means?


Mr Mephisto

I'm a sucker for west wing quotes, but this is how I feel:

Sure, electric signals can be transmitted 4 times the speed of light, thus proving e=mc^2. Where e = OWNED.

http://www.lauralee.com/news/lightspeedbroken.htm

Maybe there's a cure for cancer on one of these moons around here. If not, we can surely look around for resources to mine. There's all sorts of things to discover. There's possibly things around here that will help us travel outside the solar system.

An interesting read nonetheless.

I would like to see more references, though, beyond "Laura Lee News"

Mr Mephisto

They referenced this artice from newscientist: http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992796

Also take a look here: http://www.howstuffworks.com/news-item6.htm

Electronic signals, but they broke the speed of light nonetheless.

Yeah, I know exactly what Devil's Advocate is - and, if in your view, we ever do anything right, I hope you let us know!

Benefits to mankind derived from space exploration: We dream larger dreams and aspire to greater deeds.

"Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?” - Robert Browning

The 'law of unintended results' rules basic science R&D. All we are sure of is that basic R&D always pays off, not to spec, but always pays off.

2Wolves

Since the moon is a lifeless rock, there won't be anything for environmentalists to whine about, though I'm sure they will try. If the criteria for exploration and expansion was solving all of the worlds problems, we would have never left the savanna.

I say terraform Mars, deplete its resources, terraform Earth, deplete resources, terraform Mars, deplete resources. Planetary ping-pong.

Deplete, rinse, repeat.

We'll be good until the sun blows up.

I'm all for going back to the moon...I hope they don't land on some "private property"...
http://www.lunarlandowner.com/property_info.htm

I agree.

Can't the money be better served to solve problems we have here?

This is all a competition.... China is lookin ready to go to the moon, so we have to do it first? Or again? I mean, did we even get there in the first place? That's another argument though, of course.

Taking care of our problems here is a great idea and the first thing we need to do is SURVIVE as a species.

Unfortunately, all our eggs are in one basket here on mother Earth.

We need to get out into space!!!

Yeah, but what if we put all of our eggs into the space basket, and end up crushing them?

Competition is good in some ways, we made a lot of cool stuff during the cold war.

There's no way you're going to solve our problems here by throwing money at it, we've tried that before and the problems worth solving never get solved.

Take money out of education I say. Give every kid a book and their parents a cudgel of some sort. That will motivate them to learn. I'll be busy brooding in my castle, on Mars.

We aren't putting all our eggs there, just a few here and a few there. We are diversifying, exploring, and expanding.

Eggs are overrated anyhow.

man, i hope there is a new drive and purpose for NASA coming down the pipelines or even a signal of the commercialization of space exploration. i feel like with a bit of direction and an overarching goal we can get so much more progress and value for our dollar than we are getting from NASA these days.

Commercial micro-gravity space uses:

Rollerball for the new century!

Survivor. Find your own damn air!

Cotton candy of the gods.

McJobs in McSpace.


2Wolves

I still have no idea what you're talking about mate...

By "we" do you mean America?

Does my playing Devil's Advocate offend you? Would you prefer if no one asked the hard questions or required people to justify their decisions? Should we all (globally) get down on bended knee and kiss George W Bush's foot?

You really did miss the point.

Your sarcasm here is misplaced and, quite frankly, fell flat on its face, so to speak.

But hey, thanks for participating! :-)


Mr Mephisto

Um, I don't care if a planet is ruined.

I care about people, and to a lesser extent ecologies.

You really value the comfort of rocks on the moon more than you do people?

Good to hear that we're expanding our horizons once again. I would love to see a man walk on the moon live (almost) on TV.

Ruined planet = no people

Humans can not exist without a viable biosphere.

2Wolves