Mars Lander - Successful! Congratz to mankind

[randzg]

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i've always thought that the billions of dollars spent in the mars landing is not wasted because the journey itself is important too. Maybe we have discovered something else in our journey to get to mars. To get to mars i think there are so many pre-requisite research to do, and these research might benefit other fields as well. so it is not a wasted effort and it might fix some of the mess we are in.

[melvenb]

Hmmm...

The surface area of the planet earth is 510,065,600 square kilometers. Out of this area, land area is about 148,300,000 sq km, or about 30% of total surface area, the area covered by water (i.e. oceans, seas, lakes, rivers) are 361,800,000 sq km, or about 70% of the total surface area. Out of the 148,300,000 sq km, less than 1/20th is considered to be "populated by mankind". Which means, only about 7,415,000 square kilometers are occupied by man, and roughly also the same size where land pollution (the basis of our argument, since the Mars landers have only landed on a solid surface) can occur. This is just 1/68th of the entire surface area of the world, that we "land pollute" .

Now...the surface area of Mars is about 150,000,000 square kilometers, amazingly almost roughly the same amount of surface that the land area of Earth minus the seas. And now, count how many landers have landed on Mars, and measure the amount of space they occupy in that 150,000,000 square kilometers. Divide 150,000,000 square kilometers by that number, and then tell me if those landers' presence are a significant "land pollution" for Mars, please.

-RODION

pollution on earth started long time ago with just a very small fraction of Earth's entire surface. Great things start from small beginnings..

however, a fraction of the experiment's budget could have help in restoring the Amazon..

[rodsky]

pollution on earth started long time ago with just a very small fraction of Earth's entire surface. Great things start from small beginnings..

however, a fraction of the experiment's budget could have help in restoring the Amazon..

Did you actually read what I wrote? Esp. this part...

"...This is just 1/68th of the entire surface area of the world, that we "land pollute" ..."

If I gave you just 1/68th cup of rice for lunch, will you then be able to appreciate the smallness of 1/68?

-RODION

[kool_choi]

science wow

[rodsky]

i've always thought that the billions of dollars spent in the mars landing is not wasted because the journey itself is important too. Maybe we have discovered something else in our journey to get to mars. To get to mars i think there are so many pre-requisite research to do, and these research might benefit other fields as well. so it is not a wasted effort and it might fix some of the mess we are in.

Very interesting perspective.

-RODION

[melvenb]

Did you actually read what I wrote? Esp. this part...

"...This is just 1/68th of the entire surface area of the world, that we "land pollute" ..."

If I gave you just 1/68th cup of rice for lunch, will you then be able to appreciate the smallness of 1/68?

-RODION

actually I did. but did you realize how many lives were taken because of that "1/68th". ....

as for the cup of rice, well, it depends on the size of the cup...

[rodsky]

actually I did. but did you realize how many lives were taken because of that "1/68th". ....

Of course I did. What do you expect me to do? Cry for a year and start a campaign to "rid the world of injustice by eliminating the Imperialist Demons who are misappropriating all the money in this world for their selfish designs?" Bro, I'm already 37 going on 38. I've been a member of the Kabataang Makabayan and League of Filipino Students for most of my young life. Don't lecture to me about suffering of the poor and the plight of the needy, and injustice in the world, because I'm way past misdirected adolescent needs for solidarity and "urgent call to action of the youth to change the world".

I'm indeed going to change the world--a rather ambitious and tall order for myself, call me super-yabang, but I'm THAT optimistic--I know I can do certain changes to the way people go on with their lives, but I shall do it in my own capacity and only to the extent of my own efforts. If there's one thing I learned all these years, is that, organized groups, sometimes, no matter how noble their intent or how just is their views are, each constituent will eventually succumb to some form of primal need and thus lose their original objectives as a group, and the group will eventually start to decay. The remaining fragments, the individuals who form the group, would still go on their merry ways, but the majority would have pursued their own selfish interests.

I on the other hand, will continue to do things my way, and those willing to do it my way, shall be welcome to join me in implementing my own methods for change. One small step at a time.

-RODION

[melvenb]

Of course I did. What do you expect me to do? Cry for a year and start a campaign to "rid the world of injustice by eliminating the Imperialist Demons who are misappropriating all the money in this world for their selfish designs?" Bro, I'm already 37 going on 38. I've been a member of the Kabataang Makabayan and League of Filipino Students for most of my young life. Don't lecture to me about suffering of the poor and the plight of the needy, and injustice in the world, because I'm way past misdirected adolescent needs for solidarity and "urgent call to action of the youth to change the world".

I'm indeed going to change the world--a rather ambitious and tall order for myself, call me super-yabang, but I'm THAT optimistic--I know I can do certain changes to the way people go on with their lives, but I shall do it in my own capacity and only to the extent of my own efforts. If there's one thing I learned all these years, is that, organized groups, sometimes, no matter how noble their intent or how just is their views are, each constituent will eventually succumb to some form of primal need and thus lose their original objectives as a group, and the group will eventually start to decay. The remaining fragments, the individuals who form the group, would still go on their merry ways, but the majority would have pursued their own selfish interests.

I on the other hand, will continue to do things my way, and those willing to do it my way, shall be welcome to join me in implementing my own methods for change. One small step at a time.

-RODION

i'm not here to give anyone a lecture nor convince anyone.. i'm just here to give my opinion... it just so happen that your words caught my attention..

"...This is just 1/68th of the entire surface area of the world, that we "land pollute" ..."

"JUST 1/68th"??, 1/68 may be a small number but 1/68 of a million is not a small value. And, whether it's a small value or not, it is still where we inhabit.. Yet, the tone of your statement is like saying "Mathematically, it's ok to land pollute because the land we pollute is just a dot on the globe." ... I don't know how you want to "change the world" with that idea, but it's scary..

[rodsky]

i'm not here to give anyone a lecture nor convince anyone.. i'm just here to give my opinion... it just so happen that your words caught my attention..

"...This is just 1/68th of the entire surface area of the world, that we "land pollute" ..."

"JUST 1/68th"??, 1/68 may be a small number but 1/68 of a million is not a small value. And, whether it's a small value or not, it is still where we inhabit.. Yet, the tone of your statement is like saying "Mathematically, it's ok to land pollute because the land we pollute is just a dot on the globe." ... I don't know how you want to "change the world" with that idea, but it's scary..

There are various "dots" of non-man-made items around the globe that produce more CO/CO2 than what humans produce in total (volcanic vents, geysers, etc.). Trying to underline that man-made waste is significant (or even worse, more than what's natural) is still a hard stretch, compared to other things in this earth far grander than what humans can hope to match.

Close your eyes, and spin a desktop globe, then while it is spinning, take your finger and stop the globe with it, noting where your finger "landed"...chances are:

a) Your finger landed in water, which constitutes around 78% of the earth's surface.

b) Your finger landed in a place devoid of human habitation.

I believe 1/68th is even smaller than the size of the tip of a finger.

Like I said before, if standing together side by side, you can cram the entire human population on a small island the size of Camiguin.

Volume is not the issue here, it's the speed at which we are producing waste into the sky/surface of the planet.

And it's only scary for those who haven't equipped their minds with the idea of space travel.

"The earth is the cradle of humanity--but you can't go on living in a cradle forever." - Tsiolkovsky

-RODION

[champ_alonso]

sunset sa mars..

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...sSunsetCut.jpg