elohiym
Well-known member
Yes, that was interesting and stood out to me, too.
How important is space travel to mankind?
- Thread starter The Berean
- Start date
Yes, that was interesting and stood out to me, too.
One Ugly Christian
New member
Berean
Wow, very interesting post you put up. Thanks for that. What kind of satellites does your company make? Also, what do you call satellites that detect things like oxygen content of the atmosphere, mineral deposits, gravity intensity and so on?
Also, yes, I have read about nuclear propulsion, solar sails, beam propulsion and so on. They are all very promising technologies though don't most require months or years to get to the speeds they advertise? And even if they do work perfectly is it really economical or practical to spend so much just to send a few people to, say, Mars or a satellite to the nearest star which would require at least 40 years of travel? The moon does have H3 so it may be economical to go there in the future and perhaps we should at least find out if there's some similar advantage to going to Mars or to other moons. We'll have to wait and see on all that though--doubt it'll happen in my lifetime.
I also see that the Feds have just contracted with Boeing and one other US company to carry payloads into space--mostly for the Space Station, though. Think it's about 9 billion in contracts.
I loved what Jay Leno said about the Space X project when they succeeded in a space launch and won the $10 million dollar award for it. He pointed out that they spent $30 to develop the technology but only collected 10 and said, "man, goes to show there's no rocket scientists working for those guys."
Wow, very interesting post you put up. Thanks for that. What kind of satellites does your company make? Also, what do you call satellites that detect things like oxygen content of the atmosphere, mineral deposits, gravity intensity and so on?
Also, yes, I have read about nuclear propulsion, solar sails, beam propulsion and so on. They are all very promising technologies though don't most require months or years to get to the speeds they advertise? And even if they do work perfectly is it really economical or practical to spend so much just to send a few people to, say, Mars or a satellite to the nearest star which would require at least 40 years of travel? The moon does have H3 so it may be economical to go there in the future and perhaps we should at least find out if there's some similar advantage to going to Mars or to other moons. We'll have to wait and see on all that though--doubt it'll happen in my lifetime.
I also see that the Feds have just contracted with Boeing and one other US company to carry payloads into space--mostly for the Space Station, though. Think it's about 9 billion in contracts.
I loved what Jay Leno said about the Space X project when they succeeded in a space launch and won the $10 million dollar award for it. He pointed out that they spent $30 to develop the technology but only collected 10 and said, "man, goes to show there's no rocket scientists working for those guys."
PureX
Well-known member
I would say that it's not important at all at this particular time in our evolution. We REALLY need to advance emotionally and ethically to catch up with our advances in technology, before we destroy ourselves.
The Berean
Well-known member
We build commercial geosynchronous telecommunications satellites. Here's one of satellites getting prepped for shipment to launch base.
Those are called remote sensing satellites. My company generally doesn't build those, though, when I first started at my company in the late 1990's we were finishing the last of a series of weather (sensing) satellites for NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). These satellites were called GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite). Here's the last one we built. It launched in 2001.
The solar sail does takes along time. Nuclear power not so much. With the Project Orion type engine one could reach top speed (10% speed of light) in just over a week.
It comes down to what is important to us (humanity). There are several companies who want to mine asteroids for minerals and water. Can something like these ever become economically viable? Time will tell. Another aspect is basic science. Launching space probes isn't about making a profit but furthering human knowledge. How much is expanding scientific knowledge worth? Should we not doing something simply because it's expensive and offers no monetary profit?
I believe we will colonize the Moon well before Mars, probably within 10 years. Over the past 20 years there has been tremendous amount of research done on colonizing the Moon. For now since the Moon is only three days away by spacecraft it's the only viable and reasonably economical celestial body to colonize.
Yes, Boeing and SpaceX.
How NASA's New Spaceships Stack Up
Ah...the Ansari X Prize. Currently there is the Google Lunar X-Prize. This is a $30 million prize for the first team to land on the Moon and take photos and real time video and send it back to Earth.
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The Berean
Well-known member
Ah, lets wretch Scripture out of context. :chuckle:
One Ugly Christian
New member
Berean
WOW, COOL JOB YOU HAVE---can I trade lives with you
Really, you think we might have a base on the moon in as little as ten years? That would be pretty cool and hope you're right. The Chinese may likely be the first to do so as they are very interested in collecting H3 for fusion generators.
And sorry, forgot to answer your question. I got the 70% Mars mission failure rate from my old (as in aged, forgetful) brain. It's actually 60%.
WOW, COOL JOB YOU HAVE---can I trade lives with you
Really, you think we might have a base on the moon in as little as ten years? That would be pretty cool and hope you're right. The Chinese may likely be the first to do so as they are very interested in collecting H3 for fusion generators.
And sorry, forgot to answer your question. I got the 70% Mars mission failure rate from my old (as in aged, forgetful) brain. It's actually 60%.
The Berean
Well-known member
Berean
WOW, COOL JOB YOU HAVE---can I trade lives with you
Really, you think we might have a base on the moon in as little as ten years? That would be pretty cool and hope you're right. The Chinese may likely be the first to do so as they are very interested in collecting H3 for fusion generators.
And sorry, forgot to answer your question. I got the 70% Mars mission failure rate from my old (as in aged, forgetful) brain. It's actually 60%.
There are several private companies working on technologies for Lunar colonization.
WSPC Develops Rocket Propellant From Lunar Soil
Lunar Concrete For Building
This Is Lunarcrete, a Building Block for Moon Colonies
Research paper on "earth" moving on the Moon
GFR7
New member
:ha: To me, that is not out of context, but it's only my opinion, and I know nothing really about space travel, so it's not an informed one ....
The Berean
Well-known member
How important is space travel to mankind?
One of the holy grail's of space technology is the reusable single-state-to-orbit spacecraft. This means that nothing gets ejected and the spacecraft doesn't need a boost from a booster rocket. This type of spacecraft is a staple in almost all science fiction but is still something that is just beyond our current technology. There have been many attempts though. In the early to mid 1990's there was work done on the DC-X. This spacecraft was a product of a partnership between McDonald Douglas ans NASA. It was eventually canceled due to budget cuts though it had tremendous potential.
One of the holy grail's of space technology is the reusable single-state-to-orbit spacecraft. This means that nothing gets ejected and the spacecraft doesn't need a boost from a booster rocket. This type of spacecraft is a staple in almost all science fiction but is still something that is just beyond our current technology. There have been many attempts though. In the early to mid 1990's there was work done on the DC-X. This spacecraft was a product of a partnership between McDonald Douglas ans NASA. It was eventually canceled due to budget cuts though it had tremendous potential.
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What? That is....wrong by a long shot. I mean Health and Human Services. They spent 700 billion just in 1992, before inflation. Obama is cooking the books to make people think social security is free or something.
Back to the space race.
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An yes it's very important we get off of earth,, if we don't we could die here by natural means or of our own, we are known as a class zero civilization
There will be a new heaven and a new earth. This one will go away, but it will not be by us.
PureX
Well-known member
If we're so insane that we are in danger of annihilating ourselves and life on Earth, I would submit that we don't deserve to get off the planet. We are anathema to existence, itself, and should be annihilated.Anti matter that they produce in the colliders is a nice energy for interstellar travel...
An yes it's very important we get off of earth,, if we don't we could die here by natural means or of our own, we are known as a class zero civilization
Space travel is vital to alien origins theorists and science fiction writers.
Faster than light travel is as good as invented already...
The Berean
Well-known member
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