Why we abandoned space exploration in favor of dwelling in dark ages?

Discussion in 'Science & Society' started by Plazma Inferno!, Dec 4, 2015.

  1. Billy T Use Sugar Cane Alcohol car Fuel Valued Senior Member

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    I agree. Government funding of R&D pays big benefits. That is ture but has no neceassry connection to manned space exploration. It is NOT a direct benfit of knowledge gained about space. It is technology development done right here on Earth! We could get more of the same by, for example, more government spending on how to store solar energy, either in its electric or thermal captured form. That would give huge benefits, as storage is currently the limitation on replacing coal with solar energy. We need a crash program to keep Earth habital for our grandchildren.
     
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  3. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    The hologram would be that of a human on Earth projecting themselves onto the Martian surface to investigate what any human would if they were there themselves. The mobile device that would project the image of the human would roll along wherever the science team wanted to go. Just an idea for the future when sending any probes to another celestial body.
     
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  5. billvon Valued Senior Member

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    The only use of a hologram is to project a 3D image for others to see. Who would see it?
     
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  7. Billy T Use Sugar Cane Alcohol car Fuel Valued Senior Member

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    You seem to have zero understanding of what a hologram is. It is set of tiny reflections distributions, usually in a thin film, that when viewed at various angles give the illusion of seeing a 3D object - very much like an opal, which is a quite regular set of tiny reflection distributions that gives the illusion the illusion of seeing different colors when viewed at different angles. Also much like a thin film of oil on water does. They all "work" by making interference patterns.

    The ability of a hologram to do anything, move objects, even a tiny grain of sand for example, does not exceed that of a regular 2D photograph of a man.
     
    Last edited: Dec 10, 2015
  8. psikeyhackr Live Long and Suffer Valued Senior Member

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    The real purpose of going to the Moon was to beat the Russians. Sputnik shocked the US.

    But getting to the Moon showed how expensive getting into space was. Plus all of the electronics development that spun off from the Space Race and Arms Race with the Russians mad robot space exploration more appealing. But it makes robot weapons appealing too.

    We should have drones prospecting the Moon instead of killing people on the other side of the planet, but there is no one to shoot at on the Moon. It would not make a good video game.

    psik
     
  9. paddoboy Valued Senior Member

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    27,543
    Whatever....
    In time though, we will return to the Moon and we will have permanent bases on the Moon, we will go to Mars, and probably land a man on an asteroid as well as mining them, and we will even go further afield even to the stars, as time and fate allows.
     
  10. Waiter_2001 Registered Senior Member

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    NASA is run by a woman. I hate her!
     
  11. darksidZz Valued Senior Member

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    Good topic, I foresee no real change in the world except chaos. Space travel will not be common until better propulsion methods are devised and better energy sources. 400 years maybe?
     
  12. brucep Valued Senior Member

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    Really? When's that going to happen? IE self moderation. I say folks who continually profess intellectual dishonesty should face some censure. Eventually. Otherwise the community will eventually disappear.
     
  13. brucep Valued Senior Member

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    You summed it up nicely. I don't believe NASA had much to do with the lack of funding. The oligarchs don't want to spend anything on science. Much yes anything that has to do with the will of the citizens of America. We're letting them take over. We should be ashamed. I felt just like you. To bad we're wrong.
     
    Last edited: Jan 21, 2016
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  14. brucep Valued Senior Member

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    We should always look out for fundamentalist bullshit. Just as if they're criminals. For example the fundamentalist preaching to his congregation that homosexuals should be rounded up and put to death for their sins. Rachel Maddow showed a clip of his 'preaching' on her show a couple of days ago. Her expression after the clip was priceless. I mean fundamentalists not religious folk. Psychotic folk preaching to a brain dead congregation about some hateful set of principles. Kinda like Donald Trump without the pseudo religious connection or like Ted Cruz with the pseudo religious connection. Pretty sure religious leaders around the world would like to see those two take a long stroll on a short pier. This country is losing it's charm. I couldn't believe that our biggest allie is voting in parliament to censure Donald Trump for his insane comments about everybody and their brother. A so called candidate for the Presidency of the US not being welcome into the UK. The shits about to hit the fan. I hope he wins the libertarian, how do you spell republican, nomination so the party of the intellectually dishonest oligarchy implodes right before our greatful eyes. Buried under an avalanche of self serving ignorance. What freaks me out is the large contingent of Americans who don't seem to know, or care, which side the breads buttered on. If we can work this out maybe NASA can get better funding from public servants rather than from ideological sociopaths.
     
    Last edited: Jan 21, 2016
  15. brucep Valued Senior Member

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    4,098
    So you think the head of NASA is responsible for lack of funding? Say it isn't so. Or that she's responsible for the oligarch war on science and intellectualism? It isn't so. Or that she is just a women fucking up?
     
  16. brucep Valued Senior Member

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    The 'real' purpose in going to the moon was to go to the moon. The original consideration included wanting to beat the Russians getting there. What makes a project appealing isn't how much it costs. The science is the main reason. The types of projects we get to choose from are limited by the funding. We don't do science to impress the Russians and they don't do science to impress the US. The less politicizing science the better.
     
  17. Waiter_2001 Registered Senior Member

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    I agree. The process is more important than the answer. The process may provide an answer, but the process generates the ability to discover solutions to problems WITH the answer.
     
  18. sideshowbob Sorry, wrong number. Valued Senior Member

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    I suppose it could be argued that one of the (political) motivations for going to the moon was to convince the American public that America was ahead of the USSR in technology. Of course it wasn't. However, the "race" to the moon did enable America to catch up and in some ways surpass Soviet technology.
     
  19. pluto2 Banned Valued Senior Member

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    I think that humanity is going back to stone age mentality.

    I mean look at the world today. People are still very immoral and primitive.

    The Internet is an example of how primitive humanity still is.

    There is still a lot of false information on the Internet. Free speech is bad for the advancement of science because free speech means everyone can write whatever he/she wants, regardless if his ideas are true or not. False knowledge is bad for the advancement of science.

    Our society is still very barbaric.

    A good society is one when there is no money and where everyone can have what he wants and there are no homeless, sick and starving people.

    A good society is also one where most of the major questions about the universe have been answered.

    A good society is one where scientific knowledge is reliable and where bad ideas are rejected and replaced by better and more scientific ideas.
     
  20. Edont Knoff Registered Senior Member

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    I rather think, our focus changed from reality to virtuality - the option to build and explore virtual realities caught many peoples interest, and unlike space travel it became available to a lot of people. Just think about the time we spend with computer games or social media. Our interest turned from outwards to inwards, from very expensive to affordable.

    Virtual realities (e.g. space ones like https://www.elitedangerous.com/) have the potential to be great experiences at very low risk. Many people like this combination. And the "experience" becomes better rapidly, which keeps people interested (Even more realistic and immersive! - many game ads scream just that). Plus, it became a money source for companies. Plus it is a potential way of mass manipulation, which is attractive to the ones in power. There are a lot of drivers towards virtual experiences.

    As a mass phenomenon I don't think our focus shifted from space to war, but from reality to virtuality (with all the options for virtual battlefields and space exploration as well).
     
  21. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    'Going back to' from where? Was it ever better? Or is it just not progressing at the rate you expect?

    Compared to what?

    But this is fiction.

    You're comparing real society to a fictional utopia.
     
  22. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    While millions die everyday from diseases that could be controlled with proper medications. Should we that pompous that we spend taxpayers money on trips to Mars rather than medications that could save millions?
     
  23. Oystein Registered Senior Member

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    890
    You're always ranting about science. You've ranted about the LHC and you've ranted about Mars trips before. Did you ever think that we can do both? No, you don't think much -- just rant all the time.
     

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