+ Reply to Thread
Page 2 of 72 FirstFirst 1 2 3 4 12 52 ... LastLast
Results 21 to 40 of 1433
  1. #21

    I tend to agree- if we can get something self-sustaining and industrial on the moon, that's a helluva lot less gravity well you have to chuck mass out of. And the Moon is a much easier place to reach than Mars or Venus, especially if something goes wrong.

  2. #22
    Ridill
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    18,451
    BG Level
    9
    FFXIV Character
    Sath Fenrir
    FFXIV Server
    Cactuar
    FFXI Server
    Fenrir

    Yeah, exactly.

    The problem is (probably) primarily funding. We can get funding to go to Mars because the public is stupid and like shiny things. Going to Mars is a shiny thing. We've been to the moon, people are bored with that, and they don't care enough about future generations to fund things that are only going to be used by them.

    Etc, etc.

  3. #23
    Annihilation Banwave
    sprout sprout sprout
    2031 No.1 Draft Pick
    Pittsburgh Penguins

    Sweaty Dick Punching Enthusiast

    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Posts
    19,882
    BG Level
    9
    FFXI Server
    Bismarck

    Quote Originally Posted by Kyreth View Post
    And the Moon is a much easier place to reach than Mars or Venus, especially if something goes wrong.
    Realistically though if something were to go wrong I don't think it's going to make much of a difference where they are at. That being said Sath just posted pretty much the exact reason why we won't be funding any additional treks to the moon. It's not new and exciting, bigger or better, therefore not worth our time. Shame. I don't think there's a single intelligent person on the planet that would say we can't learn, create, etc just by doing more research on things that are within our grasp already.

    Or there really might be Nazis on the dark side of the moon and the government is saving us. WE'LL NEVER KNOW.

  4. #24
    Formerly BGTemp // TERA Fan
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Posts
    4,801
    BG Level
    7
    FFXI Server
    Bismarck

    I think a real, space faring future will be funded and run by private organizations. The government got us to the moon and may get us to Mars, but it's not going to colonize it. Money doesn't work that way these days.

  5. #25
    BG's #1 Hatsune Miku fan!
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Posts
    7,440
    BG Level
    8

    I really hope this happens in my lifetime. The way our country is nowdays and how the other space programs have been axed I'm not sure.

    Quote Originally Posted by myreality View Post
    Would it not be best to start underground on the moon for a base facility? I would expect constant meteors and or other pieces of pea sized rock going 20k + speeds be another major obstacle as it would pierce the hull of whatever we may build?

    Edit: Asking with Kuya on same topic of challenges in space.
    Right. It would be to risky to build things in orbit. A meteor or piece of space junk could potentially destroy the whole thing. You would need to construct it farther out like at a lagrange point where you could keep it's position stable.

  6. #26
    the elephant whisperer
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Posts
    3,706
    BG Level
    7
    FFXI Server
    Bahamut

    Here is more info on the Venus thing

    http://www.science20.com/robert_inve...ud_nine-127573

    It is pretty interesting and addresses some of the things you guys have brought up about resupplying and whatnot. We also have the ability to make more trips to Venus than Mars due to the orbits. All in all it is cheaper and easier to get to Venus more frequently than it is to get to Mars, and once there, sustainability is easier. Resupply is the only real issue.

  7. #27
    Ridill
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    18,451
    BG Level
    9
    FFXIV Character
    Sath Fenrir
    FFXIV Server
    Cactuar
    FFXI Server
    Fenrir

    Quote Originally Posted by noblemountain View Post
    Here is more info on the Venus thing

    http://www.science20.com/robert_inve...ud_nine-127573

    It is pretty interesting and addresses some of the things you guys have brought up about resupplying and whatnot. We also have the ability to make more trips to Venus than Mars due to the orbits. All in all it is cheaper and easier to get to Venus more frequently than it is to get to Mars, and once there, sustainability is easier. Resupply is the only real issue.
    I skimmed it.

    About

    I'm Robert Walker, inventor & programmer. I have had a long term special interest in astronomy, and space science since the 1970s, and most of...
    He did some graduate work in set theory and an undergrad in traditional mathematics. He has absolutely zero training or work experience in any field even remotely tangent to any field that would be involved in planning something like this.

    The very few actual studies he linked looking into the viability of Venus are mostly Russian and not from reputable sources. Like I said before, some small groups of people (not people in the fields that would be involved in the task, mind you) take it seriously, but nobody who knows what the fuck is up takes it seriously.

    It really isn't an actual thing.

  8. #28

    Sweaty Dick Punching Enthusiast

    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Posts
    3,097
    BG Level
    7

    Quote Originally Posted by Rulke View Post
    I think a real, space faring future will be funded and run by private organizations. The government got us to the moon and may get us to Mars, but it's not going to colonize it. Money doesn't work that way these days.
    Probably. I'm keeping a close eye on Musk's, Bezos', and Branson's private space businesses. It's super exciting. I could be stuck in my own head about this but it feels like we're getting more space-explore movies and more shit in the media about space(?) as they're getting closer and closer to doing big things in space. It's also really cool that 3 of the most successful guys in the world are looking to make more money in space

    Even if the Venus thing is an outlandish theory, I think it's super cool that people out there are at least talking about that bullshit than some tabloid nonsense or weneverwenttothemoon

  9. #29
    Who's driving? Oh my God Bear is driving! How can that be??
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Posts
    5,783
    BG Level
    8
    FFXI Server
    Lakshmi

    We should really build a colony on the Moon and use it as a testing ground for technologies that can be used for Mars. The proximity alone would help out should anything go wrong and communication from the Earth to the Moon is only around a 3 second delay which makes it easy in the long run compared to the seven or so minutes from Earth to Mars. Even though Cosmic Radiation is a problem on the moon, we could get around it by building structures using moon regolith at least 10 feet thick to block out all of the nasty stuff, or just go subterranean in extinct volcanic tubes.

  10. #30
    Relic Horn
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Posts
    3,204
    BG Level
    7
    FFXI Server
    Titan

    Can only imagine what the Mars to Earth immigration debates would be like.

    These martians are stealing our Jobs!

  11. #31

    I wonder if genetic drift will lead to no longer being the same species as immigrants from mars. s'pose it depends on the interval between DNA mixing (babies) of the 2 planets.

  12. #32
    The Fucking Voice of Actually
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    10,276
    BG Level
    9
    FFXIV Character
    Cantih Hacos
    FFXIV Server
    Gilgamesh
    FFXI Server
    Bahamut
    Blog Entries
    6

    Considering gravity and biological issues, genetic engineering or very aggressive artificial selection of lines that are tolerant to those environments will be necessary for a thriving colonization.
    And if they become too adapted to mars gravity, coming back to earth could be unpleasant or worse, you'd suddenly be living in over twice the gravity you were raised in.

  13. #33
    Campaign
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    6,662
    BG Level
    8
    FFXIV Character
    Heart Underblade
    FFXIV Server
    Hyperion
    WoW Realm
    Stormrage

    http://www.theguardian.com/science/2...ield-astronaut

    tldr; chris hadfield says next big project should be moon not mars, doing mars mission right now is basically suicide.

  14. #34
    D. Ring
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Posts
    4,961
    BG Level
    7
    FFXIV Character
    Grey Jorildyn
    FFXIV Server
    Hyperion

    But the aliens are there and they said not to come back.

  15. #35
    I'll change yer fuckin rate you derivative piece of shit
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Posts
    55,020
    BG Level
    10

    Musk gonna get ya to Mars, beleedat

  16. #36

    http://www.mars-one.com/

    This is still a thing, too

  17. #37

    Here's hoping it works out for MarsOne, but I don't know man...

  18. #38
    Relic Shield
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    1,588
    BG Level
    6

    Quote Originally Posted by Kuya View Post
    Anyone into engineering know what technological hurdles we need to cross to be able to build assembly facilities out in space? Like sath said, i think that's probably a key accomplishment to getting us off this rock. Making ships in outerspace without the problem of earth's gravity sounds great, but i presume there's some other problems that come with it. Radiation?
    Radiation is one, can cause electronics break down. High energy particles cause your solar panel degrades, or accumulate electron on structure to cause any over current. Combine those two may also cause single event upset in electronic, just imagine in your binary code: 0001100 become 0000100 or 0001001...

    Besides this, the high temperature variation, you could find the side face to sun, temperature is as high as 70 to 90 degree C, while the other side is like -5 to 10 degree C. Other this is the outgassing term, the gas molecule trapped in atomic structure tends to come out in vacuum environment if we did not properly bake all materials before send into space.

    The other reason why many organization is so interest on Mars is its environment similar to earth, also provide the protection over the radiation impact, while has similar gravitation. For example, the radiation above brazil, about 500km, and 1000km above the whole globe is extremely high concentration. Without the magnetic shield from earth, we will most likely all die in few minutes.

  19. #39
    The Fucking Voice of Actually
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    10,276
    BG Level
    9
    FFXIV Character
    Cantih Hacos
    FFXIV Server
    Gilgamesh
    FFXI Server
    Bahamut
    Blog Entries
    6

    Quote Originally Posted by Cantih View Post
    small scale 3D printers
    https://medium.com/backchannel/how-w...ampaign=buffer
    My colleagues and I just 3D-printed a ratcheting socket wrench on the International Space Station by typing some commands on our computer in California.
    Muhuhaha!

  20. #40

    Sweaty Dick Punching Enthusiast

    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Posts
    9,718
    BG Level
    8
    FFXI Server
    Leviathan

    Damn

Quick Reply Quick Reply

  • Decrease Size
    Increase Size
  • Remove Text Formatting
  • Insert Link Insert Image Insert Video
  • Wrap [QUOTE] tags around selected text
  • Insert NSFW Tag
  • Insert Spoiler Tag

Similar Threads

  1. Long term effects of all-nighters
    By deft in forum General Discussion
    Replies: 49
    Last Post: 2011-04-01, 09:23
  2. Good Bittorent program for MAC
    By Poooter in forum General Discussion
    Replies: 12
    Last Post: 2007-01-06, 22:26