Nasa - Finally!

[moovok]

So happy today. Thanks to President Bush I must admit, which I rarely say. Well, plus we Brits are tighter on security in our airports than you Americans, but I'll let that slide :D

NASA has finally got a goal, instead of just twiddling its thumbs waiting for money, they have it! Mars Mission, International Space Station Completion, and a Moon Base. Soon it'll be like Space 1999 :D

I really can't wait! It'll probably be when I'm old and grey, they'll be visiting Mars, but at least I can say "I was there when President Bush said yes, the next President said no, and the Russians brought back the term of Space Race" :D

[Chris B]

500 Billion Dollars... from where? when?

;)

[Proximo]

From the people, when they pay through the nose. How else do you think governments make money?

[General Phoenix]

They ought to just start a national lottery - the state-sponsored lotteries are gold mines over here. Texas probably takes in about 100 times the amount it gives out in prize money.

Of course, if they really wanted to, the government could re-arrange their budget and probably find 500 billion "in the couch cushions" as it were - by cutting some of the goofball projects that they spend money on, like grafting ears onto rats...

[moovok]

grafting ears onto rats is a valued experiment into letting rats here us coming, and makes the fight a little bit fair :D

[Proximo]

Hey, that experiment proved it was possible to grow human body parts. It was used to give a kid an ear a couple of years ago. ;) Of ocurse if theyr'e still grafting them on to rats then it's probably a bit odd...

You know what? I've figured that there are billions of dollars going missing in various projects every year. Most people like to say it's for some sort of 'black' project like anti-gravity research or soemthing. Perhaps a lot of it is, but I can guarantee you a fairly good portion of that money is disappearing in to numbered bank accounts. It happens all the time. :) If they managed to sort that out they might have a huge budget surplus... :D

[skyhawk223]

It's about time. Far too long has NASA wallowed, seemingly without direction. 30 years since anyone last visited the moon is a disgrace. Our futures lies in space and we need to get moving in that direction instead of stagnating here on Earth, bickering with each other.

[c_looney]

I'm ecstatic that we're getting the space program rolling again. It's the best thing that Bush has done for humanity to date. (OK, let's not start any political rabble.)

[Vertigo1]

Not only that, but NASA may get what they've been wanting for a long ass time. New shuttles! Its WAY past time to mothball the 'fleet' and build new ships. As it was shown with the tragedy of the Colombia, they're only reliable for so long. You can't run something so dangerous on a skimpy budget.

[moovok]

I agree. I'm sure NASA, during their time of doing nothing, has designed several designs, including a huge massive starship :D

I can see everyone lining up, a board outside "Star Idol" :D And Simon Cowell in the corner, looking at people's ship's as people show how they fly, making sound effects, etc. :)

[Sess]

Russia has not only a while ago declared that it will get every nuke that the americans will get because it wants to be able to defend itself, it also said that they're gonna land on Mars for a fraction of what it's gonna cost the Americans, and 2 years earlyer... Well they can do it, if they set their minds to it... they promise to have the plans ready in 2005... I like the idea, if it wasn't for the fact that really, right now, neither America or Russia can afford another cold war.

Even if Russia claims they can do it for 11 billion US D (dirty green sheets of printer paper... untill the new, safer banknote becomes widespread anyway)

But putting that aside...


I mean taking into account that it was actually the American shuttle exploding, and the American module leaking on the ISS last week... And that it's actually the Russian rockets who have been taking care of the transport to and fro the ISS... I'd say the Russians have a chance there.

We'll see... And by the way, don't be too sure it'll be a MAN on the moon... just image the propaganda it will be if they put a woman on the moon... ;) Like "look what you can achieve in OUR country if you're a woman, women of the world, be jealous" etc etc etc

[Sess]

I agree on the shuttles thing... I mean, you know what, they're buying spare parts in RUSSIA to fix their old shuttles.. that's just plain funny.


BTW Moscow's building bomb shelters, supposed to be enough to fit in most of the city's population, they claim that they can't feel safe with Bush around. They say they're gonna keep up with the nukes Bush is gonna build... And with this recent statement from Moscow's scientists, that they want a human on Mars as well...

Well people, come on, where do you think the WALL is going to be build? I think Brest sounds as good as place as any. :D

[moovok]

Originally posted by Sess
We'll see... And by the way, don't be too sure it'll be a MAN on the moon... just image the propaganda it will be if they put a woman on the moon... ;) Like "look what you can achieve in OUR country if you're a woman, women of the world, be jealous" etc etc etc

Sorry Sess, you're a little late. There's already been a man on the moon. Sorry!

And what's with bringing up Russia and nukes? Okay, yes, Russia has every interest in going to Space, including Chinese as well, since they've finally got up there as well (just us Brits watching from the side lines). I'd like Russians, or Chinese to go for the goal as well, as I'm sure I'll be watching it. It'll be like the moon landings, which unfortunately, I wasn't around for.

Okay, the Americans are probably behind on technology or the technology they had hasn't been updated, but that was solely because of lack of funding. Now that NASA has funding and a goal, I'm sure these problems will be fixed, or hopefully they will.

Why you have to basically wave a Russian flag and have a go at Americans is besides me. You probably didn't mean to in your statements, but I just feel moaning about Americans just came out of nowhere.

Well, I'm feeling tired, so I've probably got it out of proportion, and I apologise if I have, but why have a go at the USA? They're only trying to get to Mars, whether they're first to get there, second, or third.

[skyhawk223]

Moscow is building bomb shelters? What on earth for? Seems like that money could be better spent elsewhere.
Personally, I don't care who gets back to the moon or to Mars first, as long as we, as humans, do it sometime before I pass. A moonbase is way overdue.

I wonder if anyone has ever thought about the consequences of mining the moon. If we remove enough mass, wouldn't that eventually affect the orbit?

[Sess]

I should rephrase that:

Moscow is forcing all new malls and the like to have bombshelters.

:)

And, of course, the EXTENSIVE metro system is already a bomb shelter you can put LOOOOOTS of people in. :)
The metro system is being expanded tremendously, so really all they have to do is build it to have more bomb shelters. So it's really not that expensive, this bomb shelter programme. And the malls are building cinema underground nowadays anyway over there, cinemas and internet clubs and the line, they just have to reinforce them a bit. It costs some money, but nothing unaffordable.

Besides, Moscow provides a fifth of the budget of the Russian Federation from the taxes it gathers - it's a pretty rich town actually. Lately, they don't even know what to put their money in, they've been spending it at making the metro as pretty as possible.
(It's one of the things touritsts come to see in Moscow, the metro in the centre is one big gallery of statues and mosaics and glass-paintings, and now the periferic stations are (going to) look(ing) like that as well.

Mining the moon could have more concequences too... The mass is the least of our problems, less mass should have it fly further away right? Or?

Well at any rate, the problem is, if they start mining, they'll be having things go boom, you know, blow up bits of rock and the line. And THAT could move the moon CLOSER to us. Frankly I'm much more afraid of that, than of the moon flying off in direction unidentified.
(Though if it does, it could crash into something, and the leftover pieces of rock crash back on earth, I suppose that's true, or we crash into it next year or so)

[Chris B]

the moon's mass is (in kilogram): 7.3483 x 10 to the power of 22

little bit of mining wont hurt very much, i think.

[moovok]

Originally posted by skyhawk223
I wonder if anyone has ever thought about the consequences of mining the moon.

A large black cuboid will be found :D

[skyhawk223]

I don't think explosions would be a concern. No appreciable atmosphere...

[Commodore-SirJohn]

I also applaud President Bush for his vision, but I fear that his vision will suffer the same fate as the vision of the early 1970's: de-funded by short-sighted politicians who diverted the money to wasteful social programs and other pork barrel spending.

If the politicians have the balls to shut up and fund it, we'll get there, but I won't hold my breath. I suspect we won't have a permanent presence on the moon until private industry gets involved. After all, that's how most of the colonization in our history was funded.

[Sess]

I don't think you can "waste" money on social programms.

ANyway


something funny for y'all:
http://www.msnbc.com/comics/daily.asp?sFile=bo040123

[moovok]

ROFL! Always with the weapons of mass destruction. Though I thought it was the new people in the Expanse that had weapons of mass destruction. The.... you know, honestly, I can't remember their names. All that comes into my head about Enterprise is Suliban, and they're definately sucky.

[Commodore-SirJohn]

Originally posted by Sess
I don't think you can "waste" money on social programms.

You can if it only benefits one small area or one extremely limited segment of the population. Stuff like housing projects and midnight basketball should be funded on the local level, not by the Federal Government. And things like subsidies to dairy and tobacco farmers shouldn't be funded at all.

And a lot of the things we take for granted today wouldn't exist without the manned space program. Just think what a new manned program could spin off... if the politicians don't divert the money to their own pockets or the pockets of their special-interest masters.

[Commodore-SirJohn]

Originally posted by moovok
ROFL! Always with the weapons of mass destruction. Though I thought it was the new people in the Expanse that had weapons of mass destruction. The.... you know, honestly, I can't remember their names. All that comes into my head about Enterprise is Suliban, and they're definately sucky.

I believe you're thinking of the Xindi.

[Sanguinius]

I can't say I'm very supportive of the US space program - the US has too much power as it is. If they end up with a serious establishment in the "ultimate high ground" it will undoubtedly be abused in times to come. Not to mention it'll interfere with MY plans for space... *******s.

Go Russia!

[sess-mess]

Yay Russia!

besides, we know much better how to populate places where no one wants to live.

Just look at Murmansk, Norilsk, Ufa, the whole of Siberia, we populated it didn't we?!

(maybe moon colonisation will go faster if they create an Autonomous Jewish Republic there)

[Commodore-SirJohn]

Naah, then the Arabs will want it for themselves...

[sess-mess]

Yeah! Perfect.
We send away all the arabs, we send away all the jews, then we send all the christians who insist on going to church 7 times a week and opposing evolution to America, and we can live normally at last.

Well some jews can stay. You know, the ones who don't seem to think it neccessary to grow a beard, wear a black hat, and insist that nobody who eats porn shakes their hand.

[General Phoenix]

How did we go from talking about space to trashing religious groups?

I'd comment further on what I thought of that last post, but I want to keep a clean board, so I'll just close the thread.

*shakes head*