What will "Curiosity" do on Mars?

[jkc]

You got that wrong. The technology is not currently feasible but it is very imaginable. Not that long ago airplanes, submarines and space flight were all just wild dreams. Now they are all commonplace.

It took thousands of years for man to master flight but only fifty more years to reach space. It may take one hundred or even one thousand years before we see interstellar travel but, if we don't exterminate ourselves, it will happen.

What we cannot afford to do is listen to people like you who say that it cannot be done.[/QUOTE

Well, I certainly hope that I'm wrong, and that you're right. However, all the seemingly miraculous and inexplicable technologies you cite are now quite easily understood, given the extent of humankinds' present knowledge. Given our present state of knowledge and understanding of the laws of physics and biology, it appears impossible to extend human life very far outside our planet, much less outside our solar system. I'm rooting for your unlikely opinion, while not holding my breath...

 

[Bell Charter Oak Holsters]

So you are in favor of expanding the welfare state?

NASA gets less that one half of one percent of the Federal budget. Some sources say that 70% of the Federal budget goes to handouts.

How much exactly, in dollars, is one half of one percent of the Federal Budget? What "sources" say that 70% of the Federal budget goes to handouts?

I realize your passionate about defending NASA, but it is offensive to suggest that my sympathy for hungry children and the elderly eating out of garbage cans makes me "in favor of expanding the welfare state". Kindly refrain from making such assumptions, it is deliberately insulting. Stick to the facts.

Lefty

 

[35Rem]

I know in the 60's things like handheld communication devices, small computers, doors that open on their own, etc, were just Science Fiction (Star Trek). I have 2 cell phones (one is actually a computer the size of a cigarette box) on my belt.

All of you people griping about the space program are doing it on some sort of Personal Computer. You wouldn't be able to do that without the space program designing smaller and smaller computers to shoot into space...

 

[johngalt]

All of you people griping about the space program are doing it on some sort of Personal Computer. You wouldn't be able to do that without the space program designing smaller and smaller computers to shoot into space...

Incorrect. Advancements in computer technology was/is done by the private sector, all on their own. Curiosity is using 10 year old technology - 233 Mhz PowerPC 750, the same processor used in the PowerBook/PowerMac G3.

Inside NASA's Curiosity: It's an Apple Airport Extreme… with wheels | ExtremeTech

 

[Bell Charter Oak Holsters]

So you are in favor of expanding the welfare state?

Yeah, so you are in favor of ignoring innocent hungry children and the elderly American TAXPAYERS who in their old age can no longer afford their food or medicine......in order to pay for NASA? That's the reverse of your argument. Shallow and full of conjecture.

Lefty

 

[Fat Old Guy]

Yeah, so you are in favor of ignoring innocent hungry children and the elderly American TAXPAYERS who in their old age can no longer afford their food or medicine......in order to pay for NASA?

Yes .

 

[Fat Old Guy]

Well, I certainly hope that I'm wrong, and that you're right. However, all the seemingly miraculous and inexplicable technologies you cite are now quite easily understood, given the extent of humankinds' present knowledge. Given our present state of knowledge and understanding of the laws of physics and biology, it appears impossible to extend human life very far outside our planet, much less outside our solar system.

Duh! 500 years ago atomic energy was beyond the extent of humankind's knowledge, I doubt that people even knew enough to imagine it. So to say that something is impossible because we don't have the skills to do it yet is . . .. well, shortsighted. We don't know what we don't know yet.

At one time making fire from two rocks was beyond our knowledge. Very little is really impossible, all we can truly say is that it is impossible for us to do it at this time.

 

[Fat Old Guy]

Whats to keep the "Big Rock" from hitting Mars or
any other planet we inhabit tommorrow?
Are we playing "planet russian roulette" ?

Obviously you miss the point of colonization. If we inhabit Mars or Xorgon 7 and a rock hits Earth, the population on those other planets would survive. If a rock hits another planet, the population on Earth would still be there.

One planet, one rock equals extinction. Many planets and one rock means survival.

 

[DeathGrip]

We weren't the first in space. Oh No.

We were the first on the moon. Oh Yes.

We had dominance. We had Star Wars. Oh Hell Yes.

We sent up many satellites. We got Sat. TV's. Can I get a Yes?

We have to hitch a ride? Bleep.