Comments on: The Next Giant Leap For Mankind

60 Minutes Reports On NASA's Plans To Return Men To The Moon In Preparation For A Manned Flight To Mars

[liberalme]

I think we should send Bush, Cheney Rumsfield Rice Putin Ahamadnejad Musharraf and the rest of them to Mars with all of the terrorists in the world--perhaps then, we will have a peaceful earth!

[rational_1]

Seriously, I''''m beginning to think there will eventually be a sort of "critical mass" reached with the population. A point where a massive die-off will occur and drop the population to something more sustainable. A true pandemic or massive famine or something currently unimagined will come along eventually. Maybe the predicted water shortages, but I doubt that will kill the billions needed to make Earth a viable home for any long-term future.
Posted by rf35 at 12:41 PM : Apr 07, 2008

I''ve thought much the same. Scares me how crowded it''s getting and how quickly we''re burning through our natural resources. For a while now I''ve been thinking of buying some land in the Texas mountains in the Big Bend area where almost no one lives, just in case all he!! breaks loose (wife thinks it''s for vacations). OMG, I''m turning into Ted Kazcynski!!

[popstom1]

Need to do something besides kill each oughter

[filmist]

NASA is not the only one wanting to go to Mars. The Mars Society (http://MarsSociety.org) has been writing the manuals on how to live and work on Mars for many years now with their analog research stations in the Utah desert (http://desert.marssociety.org/mdrs/fs07/) and in the Canadian Arctic (http://www.marssociety.org/arctic/reports.php). Lead by Dr. Robert Zubrin, author of "The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must", the Mars Society has run over 84 crews of 6 people through their simulated habitats and scenarios, including NASA employees. When the money becomes available for transportation to the red planet, the Mars Society will be leading the way.

[usmcvn2]

Sounds great!! Landing on Mars and spreading Democracy!!!


ROFLMFAO!!!

[far_point200]

We would be traveling to the next solar system by now if our greatest minds weren''t being wasted coming up with, planning for the minimization of and calculating Federal Income Taxes.

FIT is the greatest single waste of human intellect the world has ever known.

[tbweb]

Space exploration should be a shared adventure for every nation on earth. Every nation should contribute to the exploration of space in both cost and resources, no one nation should have to absorb all the associated expenses of space exploration alone. A sharing idea similar to the International Space Station. The joint exploration of Mars and similar space projects would also serve to bring the World closer together.

[michalhh]

Hello, i think it`s something that can`t be acomplished by a turn of a century. They can`t send there astronauts only to Mars but not back. Astronauts can`t get back from the atmospehere of Mars,that`s why technology in these days can`t make it. If it was so easy as he says in the article, that would be mean that people can travel to Moon and back so easely becouse of the atmosfere. I relly can`t imagine how they will cope this problem to get back from Mars atmosphere, it`s unrealizable. By the Earth developing measurement in general anyone can`t afford it in his/her life. Maybe after 200 years with this kind of technology developement. I wish they`ll be successfull some day.

[michalhh]

Hello, i think it`s something that can`t be acomplished by a turn of a century. They can`t send there astronauts only to Mars but not back. Astronauts can`t get back from the atmospehere of Mars,that`s why technology in these days can`t make it. If it was so easy as he says in the article, that would be mean that people can travel to Moon and back so easely becouse of the atmosfere. I relly can`t imagine how they will cope this problem to get back from Mars atmosphere, it`s unrealizable. By the Earth developing measurement in general anyone can`t afford it in his/her life. Maybe after 200 years with this kind of technology developement. I wish they`ll be successfull some day.

[rf35]

"Who is to say we won''t find ways to agree on a sustainable amount of inhabitants..."
Posted by mooncamping

There is nothing to agree on...a sustainable amount of inhabitants is approx. 1 billion, give or take several million.

"I''m afraid any exodus into space will not have the slightest effect on population levels on Earth. Currently population growth on Earth as about 80 million per year; we''d need to put over 200,000 people on spaceships every day just to compensate."
Posted by rational_1

Which is incentive not to be one of the ones left on Earth!
Seriously, I''m beginning to think there will eventually be a sort of "critical mass" reached with the population. A point where a massive die-off will occur and drop the population to something more sustainable. A true pandemic or massive famine or something currently unimagined will come along eventually. Maybe the predicted water shortages, but I doubt that will kill the billions needed to make Earth a viable home for any long-term future. Of course, if humans limited themselves to no more than two, preferably just on child per couple, we%u2019d be there in just a few generations. But no chance of that, is there? Colonization of other solar systems is more realistic.

[mooncamping]

I love the comment by Cernan "like visiting God4s porch", a genuine feeling felt by millions of people watching on TV at the time, I4d imagine. What happened to that communal societal feeling of wonder about what lies beyond? They may have stifled the space program, but how could we allow them to stifle our imagination.

It seems to me sometimes like we were placed here to solve a riddle. You know dig and drill on the moon for some kind of resource, find water beneath Mars4s surface and plant plants there, and on to the next planet, hop, skip and jump. You know, like the aliens won4t talk to us until we4ve evolved enough.

I also don4t share the pessimism about earth4s development, I mean we are only now establishing governing bodies akin to an earth council. We are developing the right way to do things, economically and ecologically. Who is to say we won4t find ways to agree on a sustainable amount of inhabitants, f.e.?

But it is true, that the nations, corporations, and powers that be need to establish a space faring industry, and NASA4s monopoly needs to be broken. They seem to present us with problems instead of possibilities. There4s stuff in their drawers and archives, that belong to the people.

[rational_1]

Here''''s the bonus: when humans establish permenant habitats on the moon and/or Mars, there''''s more room for those who stay here!
Posted by rf35 at 11:56 AM : Apr 07, 2008

I''m afraid any exodus into space will not have the slightest effect on population levels on Earth. Currently population growth on Earth as about 80 million per year; we''d need to put over 200,000 people on spaceships every day just to compensate.

[lunarspooner]

We step out of our solar system into the universe seeking only peace and friendship, to teach if we are called upon, to be taught if we are fortunate.

We know full well that our planet and all its inhabitants are but a small part of the immense universe that surrounds us and it is with humility and hope that we take this step. KW

[rf35]

There are too many people on Earth and they show no signs of ever practicing responsible breeding, so why spend money on a problem that can''t and won''t be solved? Cut welfare off at the knees and quit rewarding crack mothers for having more kids! Then you have plenty of money to explore Mars. Here''s the bonus: when humans establish permenant habitats on the moon and/or Mars, there''s more room for those who stay here!

[mrmazerati]

2 thoughts- One, Mars is no different to us than the North American continent was to Europeans 500 years ago. It''s real estate, just far removed. It must contain resources that are necessary or desirable in order to be worth the journey. Two, the real value of Mars may be not in material resources, but spiritual ones. If we can prove we are not alone and indeed, never have been, we can do more to unify the human race than all prior religions or philosophies put together. Already, there''s evidence pointing to current or prior life on Mars and the Saturn moons. It''s only a matter of time. I say we go.

[rational_1]

"I don%u2019t have anything against a lot of things I don%u2019t wanna spend hundreds of billions of dollars on," says Rep. Frank.

Well, you could ask your buddy Murtha to cut back on his pork diet. Think of all the money these fools spend on things like bridges to nowhere.

I think we will get a huge return on investment from an effort to land humans on Mars. Like the Apollo days, there will be many significant technological advances that will trickle down to society in general. And suppose we actually do find evidence of past life on Mars? {As an aside, it would probably drive our old creationist buddy singinrick nuts trying to figure out how to get Mars life onto the Ark}

I''m all for this and so are my kids. Let''s do something exciting again that we can all benefit from and be proud of. Life is much more than just paying your mortgage, going to work and having a beer on the weekends.

[chancekear]

Why did the Egyptians build Pyramids? I don''t know but I am glad they did. I say we go to Mars.

[jennasmith2]

Beam me up! I''m read to blow this popsicle stand!

[haoli25]

Let''s Go To Mars!!! We need another planet to screw up.

[tomster1960]

Ok, I''ve tang, velcro,solar panels and teflon from the space program 40 years ago and its been a long dry spell since I got anything from NASA that they didn''t buy from the private industry. I would rather see the technology farmed out to the private industry and spend all the money wasted on NASA on our schools,roads and bridges. Yes the space program is cool if you have money to burn, but the last time I checked we do not. Lets fix this planet before we throw money elsewhere.