Mars Mission: Curiosity - Page 39

On August 07 2012 04:54 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:
So is there another Press Conference tonight?

On August 07 2012 02:29 biology]major wrote:
aren't 200+ mph winds common on mars? there is no telling when curiosity can be blown to pieces

On August 07 2012 06:03 xrapture wrote:
I guess I'll never understand the importance of these types of things or why everyone gets so excited. To me, it just seems like a waste of 2.5 billion dollars that will accomplish very little (virtually nothing).

Even after I read 2 pages of why the Curiosity rover is important I can't see the value in it.

On August 07 2012 06:23 oBlade wrote:
Ouch, 15 gs of deceleration, luckily it's a rover, not a person.

On August 07 2012 06:29 AlgeriaT wrote:
Yeah, it kind of put things in perspective when they said that Curiosity had traveled 56 million kilometres... "and now we have just 12 hours left to go" lol.

Two years of info still to come from that little sucker, given that it keeps functioning. Fucking awesome.

On August 07 2012 00:52 Vega62a wrote:
Anybody who brings the argument "this is a waste of money, it could be spent better on earth" is massively shortsighted.

For starters, NASA has the smallest budget of any major federal agency. The Olympics cost three times as much as the Curiosity mission. Simply put, NASA doesn't get a lot of money. We could triple its budget and it would STILL be small potatoes as government agencies go.

NASA employs some of the world's smartest engineers, and asks them to solve problems that literally nobody has ever solved before, and to accomplish things so incredible they boggle the mind. In two years they have more than halved the size of the landing ellipse. If you don't know what that means, look it up. It's freaking incredible.

What do you think happens when you take a bunch of really smart engineers and tell them to solve a problem? A bunch of problems pop up along the way, and the engineers solve those too. When they solve those problems, the rest of us get a bunch of really incredible technology. NASA doesn't keep it for themselves. These technologies create new industries. New jobs.

You want to get out of a global recession? Advance. You want to advance? Do something you've never done before.

I can't believe anybody could be so shortsighted as to say funding NASA would not directly benefit everyone on the planet. They literally have no idea what they're saying.

Edit: Seriously though, read that technology link. It's a list (no idea if comprehensive) of uses that people have found for technologies pioneered by NASA. Read that, and then come back and tell me that NASA is a waste of money, ever.

On August 07 2012 06:05 Candadar wrote:


+ Show Spoiler +

Apparently creating a wonder for the future, and inspiring children for a love of the Sciences, Mathematics, and Engineering while we expand humanity's presence beyond this planet has no value. Nope, all this is just a waste of money. Nothing ever of value comes from these pointless investments of money. I'm sure that's what people said to Einstein when hew as researching the useless General Theory of Relativity, when it turned out to be massively important to, you know, EVERYTHING in the modern world from Satellites that let your internet and phones work to the modern buildings you walk in every day. Yep, scientific progress is fucking stupid. Why would anyone want to reach out to the stars and inspire the youth to do practical things like engineering and math and science instead of sitting around playign video games all day.

You do realize how fucking important it would be for us to leave this planet? Helium-3 on the moon makes Nuclear Fusion possible, and if we find Oil on Mars? Do you fucking realize how big of a deal that is? And to move humanity out of Earth's sphere alone is a huge deal for preserving it. Distasters are a frequent thing on this planet, especially near-life ending ones. The amount of minerals and shit that could come from Mineral Rich Asteroids in mining operations?

+ Show Spoiler +


When we stop dreaming and stop looking to the stars, we stop progressing. This kind of shit inspires people. If it doesn't inspire you, I honestly feel sorry for you.

We spend more than almost the entire world combined on our military program, and less than half a cent to the tax dollar on the space program. And yet, you are SERIOUSLY arguing that the space program is the fucking issue here? We're not even in the top 20 in sciences and math in the world. It shocks me that people are arguing we should cut them even more out of our lives. Imagine if a man set foot in mars in the next 15 years. Just put that into perspective. A man sets foot on another fucking planet for the first time in history. Could you imagine how that would influence the world? Both politically, economically, and philosophically? How much that will influence people to become engineers and scientists?

I'm done editing a promise.

On August 07 2012 06:53 xrapture wrote:


It's funny that you posted that picture. Do you know how "inspiring" the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower are today? They are nothing more than tourist attractions. And I'd be more than happy to see the Pyramids destroyed. Why preserve "wonders" that are a testament to slavery?

You speak a lot about the importance of inspiring future children to be scientists, mathematics, and engineers. Doesn't that seem like a selfish motive-- hoping impressionable children are manipulated into becoming slaves to the scientific community?

" inspire the youth to do practical things like engineering and math and science" Ah, of all the words I've heard in relation to math, something that isn't required in nearly any of the world's jobs, practical is one I've not heard. And $2.5 billion to look at rocks on Mars is practical to you? I think you need to look up the definition of the word.

Yea, ok we spend too much money on the military, I've heard that argument many times. But, is that seriously your argument? People say the Rover is a waste of money and you point the finger to something else? That is not how you argue and it's immature to be honest, but I'll bite.

Look, technology and society is evolving at an exponentially faster rate than humanity. We are just smart monkies, after all. We have animalistic instincts, carnal desires, and we are all utterly selfish. Look at the most powerful and successful nations in the world's history: The United States, Great Britian, and Rome. Wars sculpted these countries and will always be a part of the world as long as primitive creatures like humans rule it.

If man steps foot on Mars it will be the equivalent of moving a fraction of a nano-meter from the Earth's surface (in relation to the universe). Sorry if I'm not inspired by that.

If man makes the world self sustainable-- yes that will be inspiring. So I guess you can lump me in with all the people that say that we should fix our world's problems before embarking on huge scientific endeavors. Of course I know crime or poverty can never be completely eliminated, but imagine if the entire world was like most of Europe. Can we aim for that? Can we aim for a low birth rate and a very small amount of starving citizens before we spend billions to look at rocks?

Wikipedia wrote:
The Greeks, many years after the event, believed it must have been built by slave labor. Archaeologists now believe that the Great Pyramid of Giza (at least) was built by tens of thousands of skilled workers who camped near the pyramids and worked for a salary or as a form of tax payment (levy) until the construction was completed, pointing to worker's cemeteries discovered in 1990 by archaeologists Zahi Hawass and Mark Lehner.

On August 07 2012 06:59 I_Love_Bacon wrote:
Everybody. Scrap all future NASA plans; xrapture wasn't impressed.

On August 07 2012 07:03 Tarot wrote:

Demolish all the world wonders. I hear he doesn't like those either.

On August 07 2012 07:05 HomeWorld wrote:
I hear that that guy wants his 7$ back (a sum that each american tax payer contributed to the success of Curiosity) for sniffing purposes.