New Space Shuttle launch schedule Created 17 years ago2006-06-18 12:38:34 UTC by PTS

Didn't they got tired of this already???

I just heard the news, NASA scheduled a new launch on the 1st of June. I believe a simple calculation would reveal that the "renovation" of the space shuttle has so far costed about as much as a brand new project for a space vessel. Trying to milk something as effective for a space orbiter as a firecracker is VERY stupid indeed.

Discuss.

Space exploration = waste of money. Please fix the problems on earth with the money spent on sending useless pieces of metal into space.

We'd better explorer space now since we still got a earth to live on.

we can't save the earth, so let's go dirty up another place, good idea.

I?m sorry Dave, I?m afraid I can?t do that.

We could have saved earth 30 years ago. We cant now.

I wouldnt be surprised if a alien species would fly by earth, see the mess we made of it in the last 150 years and decided to exterminate us.

Im sure the coal does issue a slight bit of carbon dioxide(because of its molecular makeup). But im sure there are plenty of ways to "clean up the environment" asuring the correct measures are taken.

I think that America has just about the same amount of money put away for NASA then it has for its Military uses.

thats a terrible cynical attitude to have ZL, without exploration we would know so very little of the world, the solar system and the greater galaxy and universe we live in. Space exploration has so immensly furthered our understanding of all sciences, to completely dismiss it because of the problems of society is nihilistic and ignorant.

It will be the same as it was for Columbus - he left in search of spices, never dreaming of making the discovery of oil, - a totally new concept that would revolutionise the world. It didn't happen immediately, but if he had not gone there, who knows how long it would have set the human race back. Ok, so it would have given us another 50+ years of oil, but who's counting!

I think this will be the case for the pioneers of space exploration - something phenomal will be discovered that was never intended.

Anyone read the article about Steve Hawkings speech on how we must colonize other planets? He believes its possible to colonize the moon in 20 years, and Mars in 40 years.

Also, a prototype cloaking device will be shown in 18 months!

ALSO ALSO, scientists have said warp drive is possible, and could be done within the next 20-40 years!

Linkage:

http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/news/article/17856.html

stephen hawking's speech? speech?

Space exploration = waste of money

Totally untrue.

It's well know that whenever striving to discover innovations for space exploration or even more so Military technology, a treasure trove unexpected, additional wonders are discover in the process.

WWII and the space race with Russia created inventions that would prelude most of our modern conveniences today, Millions of passanger jet flights per day, and personal computers to a name just a few.

What PTS says though, I could not agree more.

The space shuttle is a joke, and pretty much always has been. The aim of the original space shuttle was to be a cheap, reusable launch vehicle with very short turn-around time.

The current shuttle never achieved this vision, and is extremely outdated. One plus about it though, that since the Saturn V rocket, It boasts more payload capacity than any other rocket to date afaik.

Programs like the VentureStar seemed promising at first, but I haven't seen/heard crap about it for a long time. Unfortuantely, largely because of the cynics--liberals--, I'm afraid we wont be testing our warp drive, or even going to Mars, or even back to the Moon any time soon.

thats a terrible cynical attitude to have ZL, without exploration we would know so very little of the world, the solar system and the greater galaxy and universe we live in. Space exploration has so immensly furthered our understanding of all sciences, to completely dismiss it because of the problems of society is nihilistic and ignorant.

I'm just saying we shouldn't spend as much on space exploration as we do now - I mean, how many shuttles have they sent to mars now? To gather one byte of data from the surface of the planet? It seems quite pointless.

Alexb911, I'm quite sure columbus didn't discover oil, seeing as how it was used err, everywhere, before his time.

150 years ago, travel was for the extremely rich or governments, ie. armadas. I don't need to tell you how much has changed. The same will happen to space-travel. It will get cheaper and cheaper until we can do it individually. Around about that stage, we'll discover a new frontier and this cycle will continue until we kill our own sorry little asses OR god experiences down-time and doesn't create enough frontiers for us to piss with, k?

space exploration is a rather expensive thing zl, its amazing but achieving escape velocity in the average consumer vehicle just isnt possible!

Course it is, you just need a big enough slingshot.

rowleybob says good sheezy.

I'm all for space exploration, although I can't remember why off-hand.

Wait, just so I get this right... we're supposed to space billions of dollars on sending electronics to space because we might invent a new techniqe that's helpful? Well, that seems logical.

First of all there is no might. Invevitabley, we will spawn new, exiting technologies from exploring space, but that's not why we do it--abeit that's an enormously excellent byproduct.

We explore space because it's the next frontier. Notice, I didn't say the "final frontier" but simply the next. Our future lies in the stars, just as the future of our predecessors lay in exploring Earth's oceans.

[/my 2 cents]

list of stuff commercialised/developed/vastly improvedbecasue of NASA's research and all the stuff it handed out to other companies to figure out how to do:
those fluffy awesome foam beds
microprocessors
GPU's
useable ram
Mylar
Kevlar
Teflon
Optical Fiber data carriers
high quality len's
LCD's
USB flash drives
Laser jet printers

and alot of other stuff thats so common I can't think of it being associated with nasa even though it is.

main thing that didnt profit from space research:
refugees in war-torn f'ed up countries.
main example: Darfur where the jangaweed and smaller rebel groups slaughter civilians daily.

How is one sposed to help the third world with space research? doesnt make sense does it.

obnocious people...just thinking of themeselves and their chickenshit.

BTW:

Last time someone wanted to "help" another country was Bush and Iraq. So aparently a 320 Billion/2500 solider casualty war is not the way to go is it?

Howz about funding a cure against cancer or aids? But oh Noes! We needa find out if mars ever had a bit of water so fuck all the people suffering from these sicknesses, right?

2500 casualty's. I laugh at that number. after somalia (the whole black hawk down ordeal) america has become such pussies.

what was the final body count there? 33 americans to a couple thousand hostiles!

and we still pulled out, leading many historians to look back and say:
"Oh, look how weak america looked there! maybe thats where all the terorist groups got the idea that they would be able to get away with pissing us off!"

and for my solution to the problem listed above:
quarantine that whole part of the world, don't let anybody in or out. then wait for everyone to wipe themselfs out or someone to get some sense and unite everybody to break the quarantine. either outcome would do something.

becaue right now, it is just a money pit, theres nothing we can realisticly do. unless you consider killing every combatent an option.

what the shit, can someone lock the ability to reply to the above two posts please

We could have saved earth 30 years ago. We cant now.

indeed we cant.

BUT

The Combine can!
For just a small upfront fee, the Combine will invade your planet, enslave all living beings inhabiting it, and restore order via a series of brainwashing very convincing sessions!

Call now! 1-800-FREEDOM

becaue right now, it is just a money pit, theres nothing we can realisticly do. unless you consider killing every combatent an option.

Why isn't that positive? I'd say we can do a damn load with the money being thrown in the space and weapons industry. How about actually funding help actions to take a more active roll in preventing diseases and supplying equipment and education to local farmers?
I think no one in the world has to starve, we have the resources to supply more than enough food for everyone on the planet, it's just a matter of what we're willing to give up.

"Exploring" space should be one of them, seeing as how it's god damned expensive. Not to mention the ridiculous amount of money spent on the military.

The Combine can!
For just a small upfront fee, the Combine will invade your planet, enslave all living beings inhabiting it, and restore order via a series of brainwashing very convincing sessions!

Call now! 1-800-FREEDOM

Haha, sounds more like America :D.

ZL, you really need to pay attention to that part of the world some more.

How about actually funding help actions to take a more active roll in preventing diseases and supplying equipment and education to local farmers?

we tried, the warlords stole the equipment. so all that was left was some farmers who were half educated in the use of nice equipment but had none of it.

I think no one in the world has to starve

me too. Its just that america has huge amounts of excess food being farmed, and whenever we try sending it over, guess what, the warlord/chieften/local oppressor takes it and hands it out to his buds. leaving everybody else to starve

we have the resources to supply more than enough food for everyone on the planet, it's just a matter of what we're willing to give up.

yep, your right, america does. but somebody had to put into effect subsidised farming. that means the goverment pays the farmers a small amount to burnall the excess stuff grown. even I thinkit would be better to just air drop the lot of it into the starving countries. maybe then the warlords would see that 'oh, theres so much food here we really don't need to hoard it.'

the only problem with that is the entire place would become a welfare state.

Those countries which are saveable on the other hand, dump all the money you want into it, because there save able.

And ZL, most of the expense that goes into space research comes out as commercial product's or product enhancements that we can use, and that the goverment can tax. and the real drain on resoruces is the old tech that we have to keep retro fitting.

Look at Burt Rutan and his X-prize winning SpaceShipOne. that thing made it to space and back twice in two weeks using only rubber and NOs. and it wasn't goverment funded in the least bit. That is space exploration technology advancement

Howz about funding a cure against cancer or aids? But oh Noes! We needa find out if mars ever had a bit of water so fuck all the people suffering from these sicknesses, right?

Uhh...did you donate money instead of buying those sunglasses or gloves? No? Hmm, seems like you are thinking of your self first and foremost. You selfish pig.

Garg, you ignorant fuck. 2500 is no small number. All together the coalition has lost more than America lost in 9/11. Ugh, I just don't get why Bush would send soldiers to war. No man can be that heartless, right? I damn-well hope he did think there were WMD's in Iraq because society may be kind now, but in 50 years there won't be many to defend him and we will know everything.

it is a very small number.

and I am indead heartless you ignorant fucktard nub

its a small number until it beats the #'s of vietnam, aka 30 guys a day. we have become so weak and fearful. the public is stupid.

look at the america I live in.

The school system is full of ignorant kids who don't have any motivation to learn shit.
Americans have the power to sue for anything
Judges award those silly, sueing, americans millions of dollars for bogus claims.
and we're afraid to commit to anything. If we commited fully to the war in Iraq there would be no question as to american supperiority. If we commited fully the terrorists would cower before us.

oh wait, im still half talking as if I was on the Minerva board.

Meh, I'm convinced by your argument Garg

I do believe the American public is a huge barrier in taking the world forward, yatta yatta yatta. I'm in.

2500 is no small number in casualties. not even 100 is a small number.
One casualty due to war is already to much. and dont forget 2500 is a fraction of the total casualties. I just gave that as an example because its the number of people america lost. Just think of the insurgents and irakis who died. Many will now say well they attack americans and its their fault that they're dead. However most of them just dont want america or any other nations there. I'm not just justifing their actions its just that one can understand their viewpoint.

Garguantua to the sicknesses question: Quaratine? You're speaking as if every single individual had aids. Not everyone has so youd be hurting lots of innocent civilians.

You are right about the warlords but how about some funding of organizations that commit themselves against these groups? Im not talking about going in there and mowing everyone down but what about talking?

G_kid im 17 and still in school but how do you know i dont plan on working in the UN later? This is not about me either its about fucking governments you arrant knave. how about you think about what the topic is next time hmm? I can't remember anyone talking about personal funding of space reseaerch.

no no, not quarentine the sick countries, just quarentine the countries that have gone to hell, those that can't be saved.

let them either die or unite

How about actually funding help actions to take a more active roll in preventing diseases and supplying equipment and education to local farmers?
I think no one in the world has to starve, we have the resources to supply more than enough food for everyone on the planet, it's just a matter of what we're willing to give up.

Yeah, that's a great Idea ZombieLoffe. Third World countrie's populations are increasing expoentially, despite their high infant mortality rates, and scarcely being able to feed/clothe/medicate themselves.

What your proposing is like throwing Napalm on a brush fire! ARE YOU MAD!?

That said, I have no Idea how to "fix" the problem, but I know throwing money/food at it isn't. Somehow educating third world is where to start; firstly, that having 20 kids per family might not be the best, sustainable way to live.

Teach them how to help themselves, not how to remain victims of their own stupidity Ad Infinitum.

welfare state, like I said

Education is the key. That, and a working, organized government. And rowley, proposing they starve to lower the child birth rate is fairly heartless. Again, educate.

And M_Garg: Exactly which would these countries be, that are beyond salvation?
Really, it's the europeans who, pretty much, made the third world what with it's colonization and imperialism in the 18th and 19th centuries, it's sort of our job to clean up the mess.
Or atleast try to.

I'm not proposing to starve anyone--they're doing that all on their own very well already.

Why make the problem bigger? A utopian welfare state is fairly plausible in a country of 9 million people, but it doesn't work for the whole of the world's population.