Mars Lander - Successful! Congratz to mankind

[vern]

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.. 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.

This statement is really very very shortsighted akin to corporations foregoing long term gain to short term profit. When does something have to be worth it economically to be worth doing? You say four generations, how are we supposed to get there in four generations ... by skipping the first three generations? Where do you propose the US taxpayers spend the money? ... Iraq? We know more about going to Mars today than we did about going to the moon during the Apollo program, yet once again ... people expect profit without investment. The Apollo program in today's dollars would cost billions and billions more today than it did. There must be a time when a nation that considers itself great must invest in something else greater than themselves ... when does that come? ... when we have solved all of the world's problems? Naysayers probably didn't get the memo ... the world will always have problems.

People forget that many of today's advances including the very device you are typing on has been advanced by research into something that didn't make sense when they started it. People didn't think satellites were useful or practical ... yet look at them today. Theoretical physics would never lead to anything but the imaginations of a few nerds gone wild ... yet look at today's processors, the iPods, the cellphone ... all impossible without a simple understanding of quantum mechanics. Just because products don't come with "Developed in part by the Apollo Space Program", does not mean it hasn't contributed to society in a great way.

We have Earthbound problems, yes ... but those same Earthbound problems require imagination, drive, intellect and money as the goal to reach up to the stars. They both require political will and conviction. How can you hold one goal up and criticize the other when they both require the same strength to overcome? Different ... yes ... but overcoming them requires the same thing.

With that said, it isn't your money. You don't have to worry about it.

[Vince Russo]

To Rodsky: I wasn't referring to your "right" to post your feelings here. I was just pointing out that you took the topic regarding the most recent Mars landing, jumped up on a soapbox and started preaching about an entirely different set of topics (your views on consumerism, your take on the American way of life, the G8 and global warming). No need to bring up your democratic right to free speech. I was just calling you on what you said because I felt you were out of line with some of your comments. Those rights you refer to come with responsibilities... As I stated previously, I generally enjoy your posts and appreciate your take on the various topics here on istorya.

[uzumaki]

i wonder how the cosmonauts of russia are doing right now...hmmmm....

[rodsky]

i wonder how the cosmonauts of russia are doing right now...hmmmm....

They're doing very well. In fact, two of the three current ISS crew (Exp. 17) are Russian...


Image above: Russian Federal Space Agency cosmonauts Sergei Volkov (center), Expedition 17 commander; Oleg Kononenko, flight engineer; and astronaut Greg Chamitoff (left), flight engineer, take a break from training at NASA's Johnson Space Center to pose for a crew portrait. Image credit: NASA

The Russians have an accumulative all-time "longest in space" record for ANY spacefaring human being. Russian Engineering is still very reliable, considering the Soyuz design is over 40 years old! The position of "cosmonaut" rank as one of the highest earning jobs these days, at par with ESA and NASA's astronauts.

@Vince,

Points all taken.

-RODION

[diatabz]

Well IMO, I don't think it's a waste of money. For the general public, we might not understand the immediate benefits of reaching for the stars but the long term ones will come and affect us all. Space travel is a way of encouraging scientists to come out with new technologies that can help our problems here on earth. Take note that some inventions are accidental. Who knows, some lab puke might be working on lasers and stumble on a method to use them for medical surgery. (OK, so maybe that's already happened. lol.).

Lastly, I've always held the belief that space travel is a way of answering some of life's oldest questions. Where did we come from? Why are we here?

Kudos to the Mars exploration team.

[grovestreet]

we really need to reassess our priorities as a specie. What good are all these discoveries if we destroy ourselves eventually?

[Boy Tuwad]

Unsa may benefit makuha ani, I think its a waste of resources. There is nothing in Mars as there is nothing in Moon that is beneficial to us.

[rodsky]

we really need to reassess our priorities as a specie. What good are all these discoveries if we destroy ourselves eventually?

There lies the difference between a scientist and an engineer. A real scientist only pursues knowledge for the sake of knowing about it--an engineer however, wants to USE the discovery, and develop certain techniques and methodologies for it, to use the discovery for certain purposes.

You think more like an engineer rather than a scientist.

-RODION

[rodsky]

...as there is nothing in Moon that is beneficial to us...

You obviously don't know anything about Helium 3.

Helium-3 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Read and be enlightened.

Short-sightedness will lead to the inevitable demise of man.

"Many people have asked me why I am taking this flight. I am doing it for many reasons. First of all, I believe that life on Earth is at an ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster such as sudden nuclear war, a genetically engineered virus, or other dangers. I think the human race has no future if it doesn't go into space. I therefore want to encourage public interest in space." - Physicist Stephen W. Hawking, on why he wants to go on a space mission, despite his ALS condition.

-RODION

[Boy Tumbling]

You obviously don't know anything about Helium 3.

Helium-3 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Read and be enlightened.

Short-sightedness will lead to the inevitable demise of man.

"Many people have asked me why I am taking this flight. I am doing it for many reasons. First of all, I believe that life on Earth is at an ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster such as sudden nuclear war, a genetically engineered virus, or other dangers. I think the human race has no future if it doesn't go into space. I therefore want to encourage public interest in space." - Physicist Stephen W. Hawking, on why he wants to go on a space mission, despite his ALS condition.

-RODION

So, Mr. Genius, How do we transport helium-3 to earth that is cost effective enough to be considered beneficial? Moon pa gani na, how much more sa Mars.

I dont consider myself short-sighted, I'm just an ordinary man that has common sense.