Mission to the planet Mars

[Don Huffer]

I think its pretty arrogant to assume earth is the only place in the entire universe with life.

And imagine what Hughesnet is going to charge for that!

Well Matt I'd just like to stop tax payer money from funding space travel. Because they have been at this for over 75 years and haven't found any life what so ever. Nothing.

Put a line item on tax returns for people to check if they want to contribute with a line for the amount.

Don

[Chris Padilla]

Elon Musk and SpaceX...privatize space!! This is probably the way to go moving forward. I love NASA and space and I think a lot of good has come from the space program but it isn't cheap.

[Brett Luna]

Because they have been at this for over 75 years...

Who are they and what have they been doing for more than 75 years?

If you count telescopic observations combined with fanciful speculation, you can go back even farther. Astronomer Percival Lowell popularized the idea of advanced life on Mars in books such Mars As the Abode of Life (1908) but mainstream scientists of the day were rightfully skeptical. If we're talking about the scientific search for extraterrestrial life, I guess one could say it didn't begin until the Space Age, which began almost 57 years ago, with the launch of Sputnik in 1957. Of course, actual missions and experiments didn't occur until some years later, most notably, when the Viking landers attempted to detect chemical signs of biological activity in soil samples.

But one shouldn't overlook the fact that the vast majority of space exploration has not had the search for ET life as a primary mission objective.

[Myk Rian]

If anyone goes they can't come back. Do you really think these people are going to follow through? They will all back down when the time comes.

Don

What planet are you from?
Astronauts are highly trained, high intelligence, and healthy individuals. They do the job knowing full well how dangerous it is. They are explorers.
If an Astronaut has no ties to anyone on Earth, why wouldn't he/she go. They know what the outcome will be, and are fully prepared for it.

[Brett Luna]

Elon Musk and SpaceX...privatize space!! This is probably the way to go moving forward. I love NASA and space and I think a lot of good has come from the space program but it isn't cheap.

Aside from the Curiosity mission, the recent progress in private space ventures is what I'm most excited about. Outside of commercial satellite operations and the NASA contracting process, we've had very little access to the large private pool of engineering talent, especially in the area of manned space flight. It'll be a long row to hoe but I think Musk's contribution is a critical step in the right direction...small in the grand scale but huge in terms being first, having a vision, and taking the risk.

[Myk Rian]

Because they have been at this for over 75 years and haven't found any life what so ever. Nothing.

What do you call this?

320px-ALH84001_structures.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_on_Mars
and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ALH84001

[Brett Luna]

Errrr...maybe not so fast. From what I remember of some reading a while back, the verdict is still out on the popular Mars meteorite. As I understand it, microscopic imaging wasn't conclusive and there may be some natural processes that could account for the life-like structures.

[Matt Meiser]

Well Matt I'd just like to stop tax payer money from funding space travel. Because they have been at this for over 75 years and haven't found any life what so ever. Nothing.

And what percent of the universe has been explored? An approximate number is good.

Put a line item on tax returns for people to check if they want to contribute with a line for the amount.

Don

Sounds good to me...let's do that with everything. Disaster relief, military, veterans benefits, highways....

[John Coloccia]

my $.02

1) There doesn't need to be a practical reason to go to Mars. "Because I want to go to Mars" is an excellent reason.

2) Without the space program, there is a huge amount of technology that we now use everyday that would never have been developed, just like the gaming industry continually drives state of the art in personal computers. Incidentally, it's probably driving the phone market as well.

The challenge itself is a worthy goal. It always has been. For most of us, it's one of the things that differentiates us from animals. We do things for the hell of it, simply because it's never been done. Invariably, that drives us forward technologically, but even if it didn't, so what?

I'm really not interested in arguing the point. I'm just stating my opinion.

[Don Huffer]

On what basis do you conclude that we would have so much more? The thing about space program spin-offs is that there was no (or very little) commercial demand for them before space programs created an initial demand and/or conducted critical research and development for them. Integrated circuits, biomedical telemetry, and long term food storage and safety just scratch the surface of an average of 50 innovations per year. While in a speculative imagination of an alternate timeline, some technologies could have (but not necessarily would have) come sooner, a historically supported case can be made that others would have very likely taken longer, had they not received the jump start they did.

We should have spent the billions, we're talking billions. On research here where life actually exists. Had a glass of Tang lately? One space suit costs $12 million dollars. Had we not wasted all that money we could have came up with a better tasting Tang.

The shuttle program through 2011 cost $198 billion. Out of that we get a cell phone you can play games on? Off the top of your head you can't tell me 3 things we have from those missions.

Don

[Don Huffer]

Who are they and what have they been doing for more than 75 years?

If you count telescopic observations combined with fanciful speculation, you can go back even farther. Astronomer Percival Lowell popularized the idea of advanced life on Mars in books such Mars As the Abode of Life (1908) but mainstream scientists of the day were rightfully skeptical. If we're talking about the scientific search for extraterrestrial life, I guess one could say it didn't begin until the Space Age, which began almost 57 years ago, with the launch of Sputnik in 1957. Of course, actual missions and experiments didn't occur until some years later, most notably, when the Viking landers attempted to detect chemical signs of biological activity in soil samples.

But one shouldn't overlook the fact that the vast majority of space exploration has not had the search for ET life as a primary mission objective.

And yet we still find no life just a few miles from earth.

Don

[Don Huffer]

What planet are you from?
Astronauts are highly trained, high intelligence, and healthy individuals. They do the job knowing full well how dangerous it is. They are explorers.
If an Astronaut has no ties to anyone on Earth, why wouldn't he/she go. They know what the outcome will be, and are fully prepared for it.

I guess you missed the first post. We are talking about going to Mars. There is no return trip. Astronauts are not the ones signing up for this.

Don

[Don Huffer]

What do you call this?

<img src="http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=290550"/>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_on_Mars
and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ALH84001

Nothing. Not living and never was. It's what it looks like. An ugly picture that cost billions to take. We get nothing out of it. Marvel all you want. Bet only a 1000 people have seen that boring picture.

Go into space all you want. Just stop using my money to do it.

Don

[Don Huffer]

Errrr...maybe not so fast. From what I remember of some reading a while back, the verdict is still out on the popular Mars meteorite. As I understand it, microscopic imaging wasn't conclusive and there may be some natural processes that could account for the life-like structures.

Thank you for your honesty.

Don

[Don Huffer]

And what percent of the universe has been explored? An approximate number is good.

Sounds good to me...let's do that with everything. Disaster relief, military, veterans benefits, highways....

100% of the space we have explored has given us zero. So how much more of zero do you need to be convinced?

Why the nihilism?

Don