Mars Lander - Successful! Congratz to mankind

[Motownkid]

---

good luck to all Marsians.. We come in peace, joke!

[rodsky]

@ rodsky
So its not the first landing?Thanks for the info.Meaning to say Mars have been polluted by mankind a long time.

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

[ong76win2]

Way to go. guys....

[fingolfin]

.. ha ?? another waste of billions of dollars on some stupid experiments. Land on Mars, now what ?? We have our own earthbound problems to focus on. If they want to make fiction to fact with this mars colonization, dream on. It will take at least four generations to colonize mars, not to mention it's cost. wishful thinking, this is all it is.

[rodsky]

.. ha ?? another waste of billions of dollars on some stupid experiments. Land on Mars, now what ?? We have our own earthbound problems to focus on. If they want to make fiction to fact with this mars colonization, dream on. It will take at least four generations to colonize mars, not to mention it's cost. wishful thinking, this is all it is.

You mean it's a stupid idea to dig a foundation for a house right? I mean digging all day, digging for holes, all the useless digging...now what?

There is no denying the problems we have on earth. And there's no denying that millions are indeed being "wasted" but why? Because governments are doing the efforts, not the citizens (i.e. NASA is a government entity). When the Wright Brothers made the airplane, did they ask for any government support? Dr. Langley was the government sponsored "aircraft inventor" but did his invention work? Pfft, it crashed into the Potomac, yet the Wright flyer flew, and many more airplanes after that. Curtiss also hated government meddling into his work. See? You angst is not against space travel my friend--it's against governments who the people have given the mandate to "do what you have to do because you're the smart guys--while the rest of us just pay our taxes and watch American Idol getting fat in our couches all day".

I want a world wherein everyone is into science--where everyone wants to get to space--where every child dreams of doing more than just waiting for the next model of cell phone or the next "idol"...yes, I dream. But every hope of humankind in the history of human civilization always starts with dreaming. It is not wrong to dream--to me , what is more wrong is ignoring or being indifferent to what the governments and present economic systems are doing inefficiently, and thus creating all sorts of problems for the rest of humanity.

Napaka-pessimistic mo naman pre, I mean if you ever have a child someday, do you sincerely want him/her to listen to you talk like that about space travel and the future of humanity?

Again pre, don't blame dreams, blame the people who are killing dreams.

-RODION

[fingolfin]

.. dude, your example ( the airplane ) are the feasible dreams of mankind. And your comparison to this mars landing to building a house is downright outrageous, sorry, but can't help to laugh. you want to be a man of science, how about reading the actual-real-here-it-is-happening effects of global warming. And, i do have a five year old son, i don't talk to him about things that are irrelevant to the NOW. But to things that are happening now that we can actually do something about.

[rodsky]

.. dude, your example ( the airplane ) are the feasible dreams of mankind. And your comparison to this mars landing to building a house is downright outrageous, sorry, but can't help to laugh. you want to be a man of science, how about reading the actual-real-here-it-is-happening effects of global warming. And, i do have a five year old son, i don't talk to him about things that are irrelevant to the NOW. But to things that are happening now that we can actually do something about.

I don't know why you see it that way--a foundation is a foundation. I just couldn't think of a better analogy for you, but don't worry, I'll do my best next time.

Excuse me, but who are you to determine what sort of dreams are feasable and not? Everyone is allowed to dream. I know, you'll say "Yes, but not at the expense of taxpayers' money." Again, that's the mandate of the American people--they want NASA to use that money--America is a democracy--if they felt that what NASA has been doing is useless, then the US Space Program would've died a natural death ages ago (in fact, in case you didn't know, the Phoenix mission is actually a "salvaged" mission from an earlier more expensive Polar Lander...meaning, a lot of people worked hard to make this project work using a limited budget), and in fact, I'm personally against a space program done by a government, because on this end we do agree--I don't want indifferent people's money to be used in the endeavor--for instance sir, you obviously don't like space missions, so I'll be one of the first to lobby that we don't use your hard-earned money for space endeavors--I prefer to support people like Burt Rutan, Paul Allen and Branson who are after the privatization (and not government control) of space travel. By doing that they'll only be spending money of people who are keen on exploring space and jumpstarting human spaceflight on a more private perspective. This way, other people who want their taxpayer-money to be used more on "earth-related" issues like global warming, alleviating poverty, and mediating wars in areas like Darfur etc, people like you sir, will hopefully be happier.

While I'm fully aware of the effects of global warming, the general public should be cautious of "hyped-up" claims made by lobbyists that have their own vested interests in an economic boom that would be beneficial to "green industry" (already, you get a lot of "green" advertisements from, ironically, petroleum companies and automotive companies like Chevrolet), due to the convoluted and complex politics that is intrinsically tied into this into the whole thing--again, before you start putting words in my mouth, I'm not downplaying the current global warming issue--I'm just trying to put things in proper perspective here. Climate change is a natural process, and admittedly, it's just "encouraged" now by humanity's ever-increasing dependency on fossil fuels. Meaning, if we take mankind out of the picture, there will still be global warming, albeit in a more gradual and less rapid onset. However, issues like the dangers posed to humanity by global warming will become moot when N.E.O.'s come crashing down. Please see entries on 99942 Apophis and other significant NEO's we are currently tracking.

"I think the human race has no future if it doesn't go into space. I therefore want to encourage public interest in space." -Stephen W. Hawking, April, 27, 2007


If our admiration for brilliant minds like Dr. Hawking will only be limited to nods and "oohs and ahhhs" when he talks about his theories and lectures, then our lack of action on his request will effectively spell an uncertain future for humanity.

ADDENDUM:

And btw, please don't ask me to read up on global warming. As president of an astronomical society I used to give lectures for Education majors who have (rather meager, I should say) units in astronomy and geography topics, and a complete and thorough discussion of Gore's "Inconvenient Truth" and DiCaprio's "11th Hour" is part of my regular outline--so in a way I can confidently say without batting an eyelash that I'm doing more than your share of educating people about global warming. But I do it in a manner that's level-headed and full of cautionary tales, and not in the "Sound-the-klaxon! The end is nigh! Stop the industries, destroy all gasoline-fed cars!" cacophony that other "pro-earth activists" are trumpeting blindly (most of them don't even have a decent background in basic Geology and Climatology).

-RODION

[jdimpas]

I don't know why you see it that way--a foundation is a foundation. I just couldn't think of a better analogy for you, but don't worry, I'll do my best next time.

Excuse me, but who are you to determine what sort of dreams are feasable and not? Everyone is allowed to dream. I know, you'll say "Yes, but not at the expense of taxpayers' money." Again, that's the mandate of the American people--they want NASA to use that money--America is a democracy--if they felt that what NASA has been doing is useless, then the US Space Program would've died a natural death ages ago (in fact, in case you didn't know, the Phoenix mission is actually a "salvaged" mission from an earlier more expensive Polar Lander...meaning, a lot of people worked hard to make this project work using a limited budget), and in fact, I'm personally against a space program done by a government, because on this end we do agree--I don't want indifferent people's money to be used in the endeavor--for instance sir, you obviously don't like space missions, so I'll be one of the first to lobby that we don't use your hard-earned money for space endeavors--I prefer to support people like Burt Rutan, Paul Allen and Branson who are after the privatization (and not government control) of space travel. By doing that they'll only be spending money of people who are keen on exploring space and jumpstarting human spaceflight on a more private perspective. This way, other people who want their taxpayer-money to be used more on "earth-related" issues like global warming, alleviating poverty, and mediating wars in areas like Darfur etc, people like you sir, will hopefully be happier.

While I'm fully aware of the effects of global warming, the general public should be cautious of "hyped-up" claims made by lobbyists that have their own vested interests in an economic boom that would be beneficial to "green industry" (already, you get a lot of "green" advertisements from, ironically, petroleum companies and automotive companies like Chevrolet), due to the convoluted and complex politics that is intrinsically tied into this into the whole thing--again, before you start putting words in my mouth, I'm not downplaying the current global warming issue--I'm just trying to put things in proper perspective here. Climate change is a natural process, and admittedly, it's just "encouraged" now by humanity's ever-increasing dependency on fossil fuels. Meaning, if we take mankind out of the picture, there will still be global warming, albeit in a more gradual and less rapid onset. However, issues like the dangers posed to humanity by global warming will become moot when N.E.O.'s come crashing down. Please see entries on 99942 Apophis and other significant NEO's we are currently tracking.

"I think the human race has no future if it doesn't go into space. I therefore want to encourage public interest in space." -Stephen W. Hawking, April, 27, 2007


If our admiration for brilliant minds like Dr. Hawking will only be limited to nods and "oohs and ahhhs" when he talks about his theories and lectures, then our lack of action on his request will effectively spell an uncertain future for humanity.

-RODION

good point!

[bcasabee]

I do believe space someday will become a tourist destination. If I were rich, I won't hesitate to spend some cash seeing the world from the outside.

[bcasabee]

Development Work Drives Personal Spaceflight Industry Growth

You mean it's a stupid idea to dig a foundation for a house right? I mean digging all day, digging for holes, all the useless digging...now what?

There is no denying the problems we have on earth. And there's no denying that millions are indeed being "wasted" but why? Because governments are doing the efforts, not the citizens (i.e. NASA is a government entity). When the Wright Brothers made the airplane, did they ask for any government support? Dr. Langley was the government sponsored "aircraft inventor" but did his invention work? Pfft, it crashed into the Potomac, yet the Wright flyer flew, and many more airplanes after that. Curtiss also hated government meddling into his work. See? You angst is not against space travel my friend--it's against governments who the people have given the mandate to "do what you have to do because you're the smart guys--while the rest of us just pay our taxes and watch American Idol getting fat in our couches all day".

I want a world wherein everyone is into science--where everyone wants to get to space--where every child dreams of doing more than just waiting for the next model of cell phone or the next "idol"...yes, I dream. But every hope of humankind in the history of human civilization always starts with dreaming. It is not wrong to dream--to me , what is more wrong is ignoring or being indifferent to what the governments and present economic systems are doing inefficiently, and thus creating all sorts of problems for the rest of humanity.

Napaka-pessimistic mo naman pre, I mean if you ever have a child someday, do you sincerely want him/her to listen to you talk like that about space travel and the future of humanity?

Again pre, don't blame dreams, blame the people who are killing dreams.

-RODION