Should NASA be given more operating money?

[Escaep]

Space is an expensive luxury and has very little benefit to anyone other than those overpaid scientists...

Umm, what?

 

[Eejit]

You're entitled to your opinion, but it's pretty retarded.

 

[brad92]

Definitely. Space isn't an expenditure. It's an investment.

 

[Raziaar]

Hell yeah it's a ****ing investment! Can you imagine the day, if we ever manage to advance far enough to locate and colonize another human sustainable planet?

That'll be a bigger rush than any jackpot. More valuable than any sum of money in the universe.

Too bad none of us will be alive to see it happen.

 

[Danimal]

Curse those rich, overpaid scientists, floating around the luxury of space in their rocket Lazy-boys.

 

[Warped]

I'd like to see more Space Program created but the majority of people are idiots when it comes to this. Space exploration inadvertently results in a better planet Earth. We are up there for many many reasons, unseen and seen. It really is our future because sooner or later we will need to take refuge elsewhere and the ultimate goal for humanity, I think is still to spread out and multiply. Science, Religion, every institution points us there.

 

[dfc05]

Honestly, I find colonizing other worlds to be a MUCH less realistic goal than fixing/preserving the one we already have. It'd probably have to be in another solar system, unless we find some way to terraform the moon/Mars (unlikely, and also very expensive/resource-intensive). The nearest star is "over 40 million million kilometers, some 270,000 times greater than the distance between the earth and the sun." I'm pretty sure everyone on the shuttle would die of old age before they get there. Not to mention, you can't even just go to any star -- you'd have to find one with a suitable planet for us to live on, which is rare!

Maybe we could just live on spaceships floating out in space, but you can't really pack a huge amount of people onto spaceships. Also, they'd need to be able to produce food, get water (sure you can recycle urine but you'd still need replacements), etc.

I'd actually be more interested in looking for signs or possibilities of intelligent life elsewhere. It's at least more realistic.

 

[Raziaar]

Honestly, I find colonizing other worlds to be a MUCH less realistic goal than fixing/preserving the one we already have. It'd probably have to be in another solar system, unless we find some way to terraform the moon/Mars (unlikely, and also very expensive/resource-intensive). The nearest star is "over 40 million million kilometers, some 270,000 times greater than the distance between the earth and the sun." I'm pretty sure everyone on the shuttle would die of old age before they get there. Not to mention, you can't even just go to any star -- you'd have to find one with a suitable planet for us to live on, which is rare!

Maybe we could just live on spaceships floating out in space, but you can't really pack a huge amount of people onto spaceships. Also, they'd need to be able to produce food, get water (sure you can recycle urine but you'd still need replacements), etc.

I'd actually be more interested in looking for signs or possibilities of intelligent life elsewhere. It's at least more realistic.

Well nobody looks at it as a feasible option today... but who knows what technology of hundreds of years(if we as a species survive that long) will yield.

 

[Warped]

Honestly, I find colonizing other worlds to be a MUCH less realistic goal than fixing/preserving the one we already have. It'd probably have to be in another solar system, unless we find some way to terraform the moon/Mars (unlikely, and also very expensive/resource-intensive). The nearest star is "over 40 million million kilometers, some 270,000 times greater than the distance between the earth and the sun." I'm pretty sure everyone on the shuttle would die of old age before they get there. Not to mention, you can't even just go to any star -- you'd have to find one with a suitable planet for us to live on, which is rare!

Maybe we could just live on spaceships floating out in space, but you can't really pack a huge amount of people onto spaceships. Also, they'd need to be able to produce food, get water (sure you can recycle urine but you'd still need replacements), etc.

I'd actually be more interested in looking for signs or possibilities of intelligent life elsewhere. It's at least more realistic.

In 10 years we said we could put a man on the moon and we did it, i'm almost positive we could find a way if we had to. traveling at the speed of light for 4 years would grant us travel to the nearest 3 star system Alpha Centauri. Also our fastest space flight there now would take 17,000 years I believe...and they'll probably drastically reduce that number within the next few decades. Nuclear propulsion could possibly take us there within 85 years which would be amazing, which achieves 5% the speed of light. make a space craft large enough to send people there, have them breed along the way...it could be done but its insanely difficult yes.

 

[dfc05]

In 10 years we said we could put a man on the moon and we did it, i'm almost positive we could find a way if we had to. traveling at the speed of light for 4 years would grant us travel to the nearest 3 star system Alpha Centauri. Also our fastest space flight there now would take 17,000 years I believe...and they'll probably drastically reduce that number within the next few decades. Nuclear propulsion could possibly take us there within 85 years which would be amazing, which achieves 5% the speed of light. make a space craft large enough to send people there, have them breed along the way...it could be done but its insanely difficult yes.

Well, I guess I should never say never . I agree that if we're able to get to Alpha Centauri in 85 years, that would be a really amazing feat. I'd like to see that happen, although I'd still be dead before they get there (unless we find some way to extend lifespans).

 

[Raziaar]

I'd like to see that happen, although I'd still be dead before they get there (unless we find some way to extend lifespans).

 

[Warped]

Well, I guess I should never say never . I agree that if we're able to get to Alpha Centauri in 85 years, that would be a really amazing feat. I'd like to see that happen, although I'd still be dead before they get there (unless we find some way to extend lifespans).

if all I knew is that we sent a big ass spaceshuttle to another world, i'd be happy enough. one thing is for sure though, we'll probably never exit the Milky Way....I think that would be impossible. also I still want to hold onto my theory that space travel is much faster once out of the gravitational pull of the Sun and other stars but its much more violent and unsafe. but I'm thinking of it as creating a small puncture in a bubble and then your free to soar away faster once out of the area. kinda like the fast lane and who knows, maybe there is something we overlooked all along..

 

[Tyguy]

I still want to hold onto my theory that space travel is much faster once out of the gravitational pull of the Sun and other stars but its much more violent and unsafe. but I'm thinking of it as creating a small puncture in a bubble and then your free to soar away faster once out of the area. kinda like the fast lane and who knows, maybe there is something we overlooked all along..

what the hell are you on and can you please share?

 

[AJ Rimmer]

what the hell are you on and can you please share?

Was wondering that myself.

 

[VirusType2]

I'll die happy if we find life out there in space in my life time, or if we begin colonizing other planets.

Personally, I think if the life forms are anything like ours (like not some kind of electrical life weird shit), then they will be a lot like creatures on Earth.

If you look at life on Earth, all animals think almost the same way.

 

[Raziaar]

I'll die happy if we find life out there in space in my life time, or if we begin colonizing other planets.

Personally, I think if the life forms are anything like ours (like not some kind of electrical life weird shit), then they will be a lot like creatures on Earth.

If you look at life on Earth, all animals think almost the same way.

Animals here came from a common ancestor.

There wouldn't be such a common ancestor for alien life. Complex life would probably look absolutely nothing like ours here on earth.

 

[VirusType2]

Well, we have some really strange creatures here on Earth. Even the more well known creatures are quite interesting if you stop and think about it, but there are some rare ones that are just mind boggling.

If the aliens are organic, I don't agree with you. They will need to consume energy, reproduce, hunt for food, etc. They will need to be mobile... So they will have limbs or be able to take flight or swim through fluids just like on Earth.

We're all in the same universe, after all. Physics are physics, no matter which planet you are on.

Many scientists theorize that life on Earth could have been sparked by material brought here by a meteorite...

 

[Warped]

Well, we have some really strange creatures here on Earth. Even the more well known creatures are quite interesting, but there are some rare ones that are just mind boggling.

If the aliens are organic, I don't agree with you. They will need to consume energy, reproduce, hunt for food, etc. They will need to be mobile... So they will have limbs or be able to take flight or swim through fluids just like on Earth.

We're all in the same universe, after all. Physics are physics, no matter which planet you are on.

We don't know that yet. there can be Galaxies made entirely of antimatter for all we know...where physics could be different than ours.

 

[Raziaar]

You're saying that physics are physics as an argument for why Alien life must be similar to our own, as if the reality of physics dictates the appearances of our critters and that of the rest of the universe under completely different conditions and different evolutionary events?

It's completely unrealistic to go, "Yeah... our critters have legs, some of ours have fins... some of ours have wings... so any alien species will definitely exhibit these characteristics."

The reality is that how they operate and what they appear like could be completely foreign to us from a biological standpoint.

 

[Warped]

MUST WATCH!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDuPxH9F1-4

 

[VirusType2]

You're saying that physics are physics as an argument for why Alien life must be similar to our own, as if the reality of physics dictates the appearances of our critters?

No sir, I'm saying there will be air, gas, and water, gravity, etc. The same things that make up the entire known universe. (The known universe is far beyond our galaxy) So they will need to navigate it using some organic means. Muscles, tails, limbs, etc. (it was supporting that statement)

Natural selection and survival of the fittest will apply too. Which genes will carry on, the sick and weak or the strong and fit? It's only natural evolution.


And Warped, anti-matter is part of physics.

 

[Raziaar]

No, I'm saying there will be air and water, gravity, etc.

Natural selection and survival of the fittest will apply too.
\

So? The way our own animals operate and move around within our planet is probably just a small number among an unfathomable possible ways that things could have been.


EDIT: Muscles? Really? You're making the argument that an alien species would resemble our own because they may have something resembling muscles?

Some of our own species don't even possess muscles. Muscles were an evolved thing.

 

[VirusType2]

If they are made of organic matter, then yes, I firmly believe they will be similar to creatures on Earth. In a nutshell: They will need to consume energy in order to stay alive. This brings competition, which brings natural selection and evolution. Therefore, I'm suggesting that they will behave like creatures on Earth as well.

If they aren't mobile, then they will need to evolve possibly like plant life. What other way can they consume energy?

How do you picture it?

 

[15357]

I imagine that somewhere out there will exist a planet almost just like Earth, and therfore a race of beings just like us. I mean, the probability of that is prolly near 1.

 

[Raziaar]

If they are made of organic matter, then yes, I firmly believe they will be similar to creatures on Earth. In a nutshell: They will need to consume matter in order to stay alive. This brings competition, which brings natural selection and evolution. Therefore, I'm suggesting that they will behave like creatures on Earth as well.

If they aren't mobile, then they will need to evolve possibly like plant life. What other way can they consume energy?

How do you picture it?

Alien species?

I would imagine they look.... alien to us.

Sure, we may be able to vaguely compare some of their own biological functions to some of our own, but for the most part they will be alien to us.

 

[VirusType2]

I don't think my opinion is outrageous, but of course we don't know what could be out there.

First - does life really have an operating temperature? Lets see: we generally don't see life in extreme heat or cold, and there are gasses that are poisonous to us, but some creatures may be able to live off it, for sure. There are creatures in the deepest coldest depths, and creatures that thrive near volcanic activity (extremely hot) deep in the ocean that have evolved quite remarkably, just like we have. Like, these pressures would crush 3 feet of steel, but they have adapted by not storing oxygen.

So who knows? I'm certainly not saying anyone else is wrong about what they believe. It's just what I think.

Anyway, there are so many things about space that we don't know yet. We don't understand, so yeah, I do think there could be some wild shit.

I can't even comprehend a lot of the stuff that Einstein was on about. Like take for example, a black hole. People theorize that matter just disappears into it, but really? Were does it go? Someone was trying to explain it simply by stirring a cup of coffee. When you stir it, it builds up along the sides, displacing the liquid in the center. Then another scientist was saying that the forces are so astronomical, that Earth sized object would be compressed to the size of an ice cube in a black hole. So dense that ice cube sized object would weigh as much as the Earth? That is if it isn't ripped apart first, of course.

Time travel? An alternate universe? The mind boggles!

 

[Warped]

No sir, I'm saying there will be air, gas, and water, gravity, etc. The same things that make up the entire known universe. (The known universe is far beyond our galaxy) So they will need to navigate it using some organic means. Muscles, tails, limbs, etc. (it was supporting that statement)

Natural selection and survival of the fittest will apply too. Which genes will carry on, the sick and weak or the strong and fit? It's only natural evolution.


And Warped, anti-matter is part of physics.

i see you're point but its possible a life form evolved from Sulfuric Acid or even Lithium for all we know. We have many different elements in our body, and its still space stuff in general. Scientists can send very small particles through lab rooms and they'll appear 20 feet away in another lab. Its really exciting to see this in our lifetime and yes i know nothing on physics

 

[Escaep]

I've always wondered if alien civilizations have television, internet, music, and all other sorts of entertainment. And I wonder what they would think of our "entertainment" if they ever paid us a visit.

 

[Warped]

I'd love to see what an alien sitcom was like or better yet, I'd actually enjoy watching reality tv from an alien world...it would be eye opening

EDIT: new photo taken from Mercury

A mysterious bright area on the surface of Mercury is seen near the top center of this image. The MESSENGER probe also imaged this spot in its second flyby of the planet last year. Color images from MESSENGER's Wide Angle Camera reveal that the irregular depression and bright halo have distinctive color. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/091001-mercury-bright-spot.html

During its most recent flyby of Mercury, NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft caught another glimpse of the innermost planet's mysterious bright spot.

The MESSENGER probe skimmed just 142 miles (228 km) above Mercury at its closest approach as it whipped around the planet during the flyby, the last of three designed to guide the spacecraft into orbit around the planet in 2011.

The $446 million probe snapped several new images of Mercury during the flyby, despite a minor data hiccup that delayed the downlink of some of the images.

One of the new images shows a bright spot on the planet's surface, a feature that scientists cannot yet explain.

The new view was the third of the spot, which was first seen in telescopic images of Mercury obtained from Earth by astronomer Ronald Dantowitz. The second view was obtained by the MESSENGER Narrow Angle Camera during the spacecraft's second Mercury flyby Oct. 6, 2008. At that time, the bright feature was just on the planet's limb (edge) as seen from MESSENGER.

Surprisingly, at the center of the bright halo is an irregular depression, which may have formed through volcanic processes. The object will be further investigated when MESSENGER arrives at its final orbit around Mercury.

In the new images were also pictures of impact basins, including a double-ring impact basin, with another large impact crater on its south-southwestern side. Double-ring basins are formed when a large meteoroid strikes the surface of a rocky planet.

The floor within the inner or peak ring appears to be smoother than the floor between the peak ring and the outer rim, possibly the result of lava flows that partially flooded the basin some time after impact.

Some of these craters are relatively fresh, formed by more recent impacts. On Mercury, like the Earth's moon, even ancient impact craters can be preserved on the surface because there is no atmosphere to cause erosion and no plate tectonics to recycle the rock, as there are on Earth.

One set of impact craters even coincidentally resemble a paw print.

MESSENGER was also able to image some of the same terrain as it did in its second flyby, but this time with slightly different lightning conditions. Different angles of sunlight can better show the topography of the planet's surface.

MESSENGER made its closest approach to Mercury at about 5:55 p.m. EDT (2155 GMT) when it sped by at about 12,000 mph (19,312 kph). The probe then flew behind Mercury, passing out of communications with Earth for about an hour before restoring contact.

The spacecraft is the first probe to visit Mercury since NASA's Mariner 10 mission in the mid-1970s.

NASA launched MESSENGER - short for MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging - in 2004. The probe swung past Earth once and Venus twice before beginning its three Mercury flybys.

pretty cool we're doing this 80 million miles away...and also just like highlighted, we're investing in NASA because we don't know why to a lot of questions. Some day we will need to know because it may be a matter of life and death for billions of people....and maybe trillions of people

 

[jverne]

if we want to do anything more serious with space we need a global space agency.

in other matters: i'm surprised there is not a stone with the 10 commandments planted somewhere in space by now.
yes...i'm extremely biased. i think space doesn't belong to religion, **** them...they suppressed knowledge about space for hundreds of years and now they want to join the party.

why did i bring this subject up? i don't know...it just was lingering there.

 

[Escaep]

if we want to do anything more serious with space we need a global space agency.

in other matters: i'm surprised there is not a stone with the 10 commandments planted somewhere in space by now.
yes...i'm extremely biased. i think space doesn't belong to religion, **** them...they suppressed knowledge about space for hundreds of years and now they want to join the party.

why did i bring this subject up? i don't know...it just was lingering there.

wtf are you talking about?

 

[Danimal]

He's just being a ****.

 

[Warped]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3nYtEedYMs&feature=sub

I love these updates, important experiments are taking place and you learn something new about our planet

 

[Atomic_Piggy]

if we want to do anything more serious with space we need a global space agency.

in other matters: i'm surprised there is not a stone with the 10 commandments planted somewhere in space by now.
yes...i'm extremely biased. i think space doesn't belong to religion, **** them...they suppressed knowledge about space for hundreds of years and now they want to join the party.

why did i bring this subject up? i don't know...it just was lingering there.

Wha...What? Did you just say that its religions fault we haven't explored space enough? I ask because I don't think anyone really knows what you meant.

 

[V-Man339]

They aren't really making enough progress on space stations, shuttles, etc. to really justify giving them too much money.
The economy around the place is the only justification I think we could give them money for.

 

[AJ Rimmer]

They aren't really making enough progress on space stations, shuttles, etc. to really justify giving them too much money.

Circular reasoning much? If NASA had been given more money, like twice as much as they've been given for the last thirty years (which would still have been about one percent of the entire federal budget), those space shuttles would have been retired sometime during the mid-nineties.

 

[V-Man339]

How much money have they been given for those projects?
They haven't met expectations with the space stations at all!

 

[Warped]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9LbL0QjxdU&feature=sub

also on Friday morning they will be smacking the moon with a probe, you can probably watch that here: http://www.space.com/spacewatch/091006-nightsky-lcross-impact.html

 

[Warped]

This image shows the spectacular star-forming region known as the Flame Nebula, or NGC 2024, in the constellation of Orion (the Hunter) and its surroundings. It is the first to be released publicly from VISTA, the world’s largest survey telescope, and reveals the cluster of very young stars at the object’s heart. The wide-field VISTA view also includes the glow of the reflection nebula NGC 2023, and the ghostly outline of the Horsehead Nebula (Barnard 33) towards the lower right. The bright blue star (right) is one of the three bright stars forming the Belt of Orion. The image was created from VISTA images taken through J, H and Ks filters in the near-infrared part of the spectrum. Credit: ESO

this has to be one of the best i've seen in a long time! don't know if this group is with NASA or not but its amazing

 

[jet_porkins]

NASA should be shut down and given to private companies or we should use the Russians