Settle Mars by 2023?

[stlrammer]

China may make it. We will be recovering from a failing economy.

[fielderLS3]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

Which is kinda why we need a plan B. If we screw up massively enough on Earth, well we'd kinda be in a pickle at the moment.

Not quite what I meant.

Originally Posted by stlrammer

China may make it. We will be recovering from a failing economy.

That's what I meant.

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by fielderLS3

Not quite what I meant.



That's what I meant.

How does a privately funded space adventure hurt the economy? Money is going to be passed around in large amounts. When that happens, the economy benefits. Its when people stop giving money to crazy ideas that the economy slows down.

[Overflow]

Originally Posted by iCamaro

I concur, this isn't the first company to make this bet either. But, I would love to live to see it happen.

And the fact that major country leaders aren't gonna be okay with a private company stepping foot on Mars first. If there's something on Mars, governments want to get there first.

I'm 90% sure either the Russian space agency or the US space agency will be the first ones on Mars.

[Steve Dallas]

Originally Posted by Overflow

And the fact that major country leaders aren't gonna be okay with a private company stepping foot on Mars first. If there's something on Mars, governments want to get there first.

I'm 90% sure either the Russian space agency or the US space agency will be the first ones on Mars.

10 years ago, I think I would have agreed with you. This delves into politics, however the upshot is that funding for NASA is not as high as I'd like, and the focus is on unmanned right now.

China and private business are looking to the asteroids where minerals are to be had. Right now, China has the economy to support a large endeavor like this...and they have the technology as well. Most of the loans to the U.S. are from China because they have the money to do that AND to fund something like space.

I'd love to see our private companies take up the slack that our funding of NASA has dropped the ball on.

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by Steve Dallas

10 years ago, I think I would have agreed with you. This delves into politics, however the upshot is that funding for NASA is not as high as I'd like, and the focus is on unmanned right now.

China and private business are looking to the asteroids where minerals are to be had. Right now, China has the economy to support a large endeavor like this...and they have the technology as well. Most of the loans to the U.S. are from China because they have the money to do that AND to fund something like space.

I'd love to see our private companies take up the slack that our funding of NASA has dropped the ball on.

NASA's main problem is that they don't have a real mission. Put their feet to the fire & they'll get the job done. If the cold war hadn't ended in the late 80's, we probably would have been to Mars sometime in the mid 90's. The Space Shuttle was almost perfectly suited to assembling a ginormous space-craft destined for Mars. That should be no surprise, considering that it was part of the design consideration. After Apollo, the next logical step was Mars. Knowing that a manned mission to Mars would require a craft larger than what is feasible in a single launch, a reusable 'space truck' was envisioned to construct an interplanetary spacecraft. It would take parts into orbit, add a module or two, then fly back down to Earth to pick up another load & repeat the cycle until the job is done. Such a craft is known as the Space Shuttle. But less than a decade after it was launched its ultimate mission was scrubbed. At the end of its life, it was instrumental in building the ISS, but thats not nearly as fulfilling as a mission to Mars. But now, there is no Shuttle and there is no mission to Mars. NASA has nothing to do right no, to put it succinctly.

China is no threat. They might have some money, but their engineers are nearly worthless. They've been trained to reverse engineer technology developed by other nations & repurpose it for themselves. But actual ingenuity & innovation? Its almost non-existent. Their materials science is well below standard, as is quality control. With that sort of background, they're not going to be able to accomplish a feat that others haven't done yet.

[Brokinarrow]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

To quote Agent K: "A person is smart, people are dumb"

btw, idle means sitting around, doing enough to keep yourself going & nothing more. Idol is something to be in awe of, or to worship.

And I'll stand by my original spelling

[Overflow]

Originally Posted by Steve Dallas

10 years ago, I think I would have agreed with you. This delves into politics, however the upshot is that funding for NASA is not as high as I'd like, and the focus is on unmanned right now.

China and private business are looking to the asteroids where minerals are to be had. Right now, China has the economy to support a large endeavor like this...and they have the technology as well. Most of the loans to the U.S. are from China because they have the money to do that AND to fund something like space.

I'd love to see our private companies take up the slack that our funding of NASA has dropped the ball on.

I completely agree with you that the NASA budget is a shame, and that it puts a heavy limit on what they can do nowadays.

Do I think China can colonize Mars? Yes. But the thing with China is, is that they're much farther behind Russia and the US (Even though we aren't going anywhere, anytime soon). China just began putting humans on their space station. Russia and the US did this over 10 years ago. You gotta learn how to crawl before you can walk. However, there's always a possibility that China will put the guns on, waste no time and pass Russia and the US in space.

Private companies probably have a better chance of going places, but the government is going to regulate where they go and what they do. SpaceX was founded in 2002. It took them 10 years to be able to go to the International Space Station, and that was just with an unmanned spacecraft. They would've had to wait longer if the Space Shuttle Program wasn't retired so early.

[fielderLS3]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

How does a privately funded space adventure hurt the economy? Money is going to be passed around in large amounts. When that happens, the economy benefits. Its when people stop giving money to crazy ideas that the economy slows down.

Never said such a project would hurt the economy. My comments were more of an off the cuff sarcastic remark with no real meaning or serious thought beyond that.

[Brokinarrow]

Originally Posted by Overflow

I completely agree with you that the NASA budget is a shame, and that it puts a heavy limit on what they can do nowadays.

Do I think China can colonize Mars? Yes. But the thing with China is, is that they're much farther behind Russia and the US (Even though we aren't going anywhere, anytime soon). China just began putting humans on their space station. Russia and the US did this over 10 years ago. You gotta learn how to crawl before you can walk. However, there's always a possibility that China will put the guns on, waste no time and pass Russia and the US in space.

Private companies probably have a better chance of going places, but the government is going to regulate where they go and what they do. SpaceX was founded in 2002. It took them 10 years to be able to go to the International Space Station, and that was just with an unmanned spacecraft. They would've had to wait longer if the Space Shuttle Program wasn't retired so early.

Yeah but the one thing China has going for it is a general disregard for human rights and/or safety. Their first manned mission to Mars might be a failure, but they won't mind nearly as much as we would if our first manned mission failed.

[FenwickHockey65]

China can't build anything worth a damn anyways. I'm sure their initial advancements into space will be just as bad as the first couple Soviet attempts.

[Overflow]

Originally Posted by Brokinarrow

Yeah but the one thing China has going for it is a general disregard for human rights and/or safety. Their first manned mission to Mars might be a failure, but they won't mind nearly as much as we would if our first manned mission failed.

If they really don't care, then they have an even lower chance to getting humans to Mars. You have to keep the humans alive for multiple months just to get them there.

[Brokinarrow]

Originally Posted by Overflow

If they really don't care, then they have an even lower chance to getting humans to Mars. You have to keep the humans alive for multiple months just to get them there.

Well what I'm saying is they won't be afraid to use humans as guinea pigs. They'll learn from the mistakes they make, but their "acceptable" level of mistakes is a lot different than ours.

[Russo]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

How does a privately funded space adventure hurt the economy? Money is going to be passed around in large amounts. When that happens, the economy benefits. Its when people stop giving money to crazy ideas that the economy slows down.

because it won't be privately funded... like inner city cell phone providers (Boost Mobile), they get subsidized by the Federal government while the others have to operate the traditional American way (capitalism)