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Space exploration: Where do we go from here?

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  • Space exploration: Where do we go from here?

    58 years ago, JFK said, "We choose to go to the Moon, not because it is easy, but because it is hard."

    It's hard now, and we ain't going anywhere. Whether it is lack of will, lack of money, lack of vision, lack of leadership, lack of (________), we're stuck in a rut since 1972.

    Elon just launched in the fog and stuck the landing thru the fog. I'm not saying SpaceX is the answer, but they're moving the needle.

    We're not going anywhere unless we figure out a new form of propulsion that does not involve hauling gobs of fuel around to fuel the engines. Somebody will figure it out. Maybe on my lifetime, probably not.
    CCT '77 & '78
    4 kids
    5 grandsons (BCA 7/09, CJA 5/14, JDL 8/14, JFL 6/16, PJL 7/18)
    1 granddaughter (EML 4/18)

    ”Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.”
    - Benjamin Franklin

    Banned from the St. Lawrence University Facebook page - March 2016 (But I got better).

    I want to live forever. So far, so good.

  • #2
    Re: Space exploration: Where do we go from here?

    I'd concentrate on being able to tell more and more about things farther and farther away. We should know an exoplanet can support us before we visit it. I don't know how long that will take, but we've really only been using our brains to explore scientifically for 1000 years and we've gotten to where we can figure out mass, density, revolutionary period, and rough geological makeup of exoplanets. The science might be here in another 100 years.

    Then we need to have a way of "getting" there. I'm not sure "getting" will mean people traveling. Instead I can imagine armadas of self-replicating sensors and scouts at the molecular level traveling there at lightspeed and assembling machines and comms gear so that we can observe while they move around, continue to build, explore, test and hopefully eventually make contact if they find anything interesting. No space ships. Maybe eventually being able to beam instructions to copy consciousness into those creations. (This also makes ambulatory life back home unnecessary, since you can pump your consciousness anywhere and, for that matter, into anything -- want to be a dinosaur?)

    I mean the porn spinoffs alone should pay for it.
    Cornell University
    National Champion 1967, 1970
    ECAC Champion 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1980, 1986, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2005, 2010
    Ivy League Champion 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2020

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    • #3
      Re: Space exploration: Where do we go from here?

      The asteroids either in the Belt or the Aft Trojans of Jupiter should be able to pay for all of it.
      CCT '77 & '78
      4 kids
      5 grandsons (BCA 7/09, CJA 5/14, JDL 8/14, JFL 6/16, PJL 7/18)
      1 granddaughter (EML 4/18)

      ”Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.”
      - Benjamin Franklin

      Banned from the St. Lawrence University Facebook page - March 2016 (But I got better).

      I want to live forever. So far, so good.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Space exploration: Where do we go from here?

        Originally posted by joecct View Post
        The asteroids either in the Belt or the Aft Trojans of Jupiter should be able to pay for all of it.
        I never understand how that would work.

        Gold is $1300 an ounce. Say there's a solid gold asteroid out there that's one trillion ounces. If it becomes accessible that doesn't mean it will be worth $1.3 quadrillion. It means gold will fall to a thousandth of a cent an ounce.
        Cornell University
        National Champion 1967, 1970
        ECAC Champion 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1980, 1986, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2005, 2010
        Ivy League Champion 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2020

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Space exploration: Where do we go from here?

          Originally posted by Kepler View Post
          I never understand how that would work.

          Gold is $1300 an ounce. Say there's a solid gold asteroid out there that's one trillion ounces. If it becomes accessible that doesn't mean it will be worth $1.3 quadrillion. It means gold will fall to a thousandth of a cent an ounce.
          False. It will never become accessible to the general public. It will be owned in whole by Giant MegaSpace Exploration, Inc., who will sell it for $1300 an ounce, one ounce at a time, for the next 10,000 years.

          Cecil Rhodes would wet himself.
          If you don't change the world today, how can it be any better tomorrow?

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Space exploration: Where do we go from here?

            Originally posted by LynahFan View Post
            False. It will never become accessible to the general public. It will be owned in whole by Giant MegaSpace Exploration, Inc., who will sell it for $1300 an ounce, one ounce at a time, for the next 10,000 years.

            Cecil Rhodes would wet himself.
            See also: Diamonds

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Space exploration: Where do we go from here?

              I think on July 20, this will be the only thing running on my computer.

              https://www.space.com/website-replay...real-time.html
              Last edited by joecct; 07-16-2019, 04:31 AM.
              CCT '77 & '78
              4 kids
              5 grandsons (BCA 7/09, CJA 5/14, JDL 8/14, JFL 6/16, PJL 7/18)
              1 granddaughter (EML 4/18)

              ”Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.”
              - Benjamin Franklin

              Banned from the St. Lawrence University Facebook page - March 2016 (But I got better).

              I want to live forever. So far, so good.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Space exploration: Where do we go from here?

                There was a repeated line in The Agony and the Ecstasy - "When will you make an end?!"

                I feel like yelling this

                https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/m...1-moon-mission
                CCT '77 & '78
                4 kids
                5 grandsons (BCA 7/09, CJA 5/14, JDL 8/14, JFL 6/16, PJL 7/18)
                1 granddaughter (EML 4/18)

                ”Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.”
                - Benjamin Franklin

                Banned from the St. Lawrence University Facebook page - March 2016 (But I got better).

                I want to live forever. So far, so good.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Space exploration: Where do we go from here?

                  Heard on the radio yesterday: On this day in 1983 Sally Ride becomes the first woman to walk on the moon.

                  Sigh.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Space exploration: Where do we go from here?

                    Gov. Murphy has ordered the evacuation of Grovers Mill

                    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/s...-a8969021.html
                    CCT '77 & '78
                    4 kids
                    5 grandsons (BCA 7/09, CJA 5/14, JDL 8/14, JFL 6/16, PJL 7/18)
                    1 granddaughter (EML 4/18)

                    ”Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.”
                    - Benjamin Franklin

                    Banned from the St. Lawrence University Facebook page - March 2016 (But I got better).

                    I want to live forever. So far, so good.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Space exploration: Where do we go from here?

                      Originally posted by joecct View Post
                      Gov. Murphy has ordered the evacuation of Grovers Mill

                      https://www.independent.co.uk/news/s...-a8969021.html
                      Lens flare? So that's where JJ is filming Episode IX...

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Space exploration: Where do we go from here?

                        SpaceX goes 2 for 3 on booster recovery this AM. The are batting 0.5 for 3 on center core recovery, but they did get the fairing!
                        CCT '77 & '78
                        4 kids
                        5 grandsons (BCA 7/09, CJA 5/14, JDL 8/14, JFL 6/16, PJL 7/18)
                        1 granddaughter (EML 4/18)

                        ”Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.”
                        - Benjamin Franklin

                        Banned from the St. Lawrence University Facebook page - March 2016 (But I got better).

                        I want to live forever. So far, so good.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Space exploration: Where do we go from here?

                          Submitted without comment.
                          Cornell University
                          National Champion 1967, 1970
                          ECAC Champion 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1980, 1986, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2005, 2010
                          Ivy League Champion 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2020

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Space exploration: Where do we go from here?

                            Originally posted by Kepler View Post
                            Submitted without comment.
                            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEJ9HrZq7Ro

                            "Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down ? That's not my department," says Wernher von Braun.

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                            • #15
                              Re: Space exploration: Where do we go from here?

                              Originally posted by ticapnews View Post
                              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEJ9HrZq7Ro

                              "Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down ? That's not my department," says Wernher von Braun.
                              Und I'm learning Chinese
                              Cornell University
                              National Champion 1967, 1970
                              ECAC Champion 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1980, 1986, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2005, 2010
                              Ivy League Champion 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2020

                              Comment

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