DailyDirt: Life's Little Problems In Space
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Space travel isn't easy. It's risky and involves quite a bit of preparation if the trip is going to last more than a few minutes or hours. But if humanity is really going to commit to space exploration, there are a few problems to solve. Life support systems are obviously going to need to protect our fragile bodies from radiation and the vacuum of space. On top of that, we also need to counteract the negative effects of microgravity on our health. Some people are thinking about these problems, but it's likely that we won't have solutions until at least 2030.- NASA officially forbids pregnancy in space due to the unknown hazards it presents to the unborn. If humans are going to colonize other worlds, we're going to need to figure out how to procreate in different environments -- and bring along 10,000-40,000 astronauts to keep the genetic diversity high (unless space explorers opt to do far more genetic engineering experiments than we do on earth). [url]
- Plenty of people have volunteered for the Mars One mission -- a one-way trip to the red planet. A short documentary of a few of the people willing to die on Mars (or on the way) shows that these folks are a bit weird, but that they're not so crazy, either. [url]
- Astronauts haven't been to the moon in a while, so we've almost forgotten all of the things they've done and left behind on the moon. Astronauts have slept for 8 hours on the moon. They've left behind all kinds of waste -- but not bags of vomit, apparently. [url]
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Filed Under: apollo, astronauts, life support, mars, mars one, space, space exploration
Companies: nasa
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Humans are such morons
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Re: Humans are such morons
It's been 50 years. Are those earthly problems all solved yet? Do you need another five years?
America's human space flight programs cost around $7 billion a year. Americans spend more than $154 billion a year on alcohol. They spend a similar amount on sugar water that's bad for them. And again on watching millionaires they'll never meet play organized sports.
But hey, target the $7 billion instead. An investment that's already had a wonderful payback. And tell us more about what's "moronic and pointless."
You want to "take a leap for mankind that actually helps mankind?" As a programmer, I believe in making backups. The same concept applies to humanity: Establishing a self-sustaining colony on another planet is a Very Good Idea.
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Re: Re: Humans are such morons
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Re: Humans are such morons
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I agree with Heinlein
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Yeah, just "a few problems to solve".
likely insoluble. The laws of physics
are not optional. We can't simply scale
up or expect miracle tech. The past or
that mythical patent office bureaucrat
being wrong cannot overcome the known
problems. There's nothing in sight
which gives hope of people even getting
to Mars alive, let alone returning.
And I for one find it pleasing that
humans won't be infesting the universe.
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Re: Yeah, just "a few problems to solve".
There are no "insoluble laws of physics" stopping us from colonizing the solar system. There's still a few engineering problems, but no "miracle tech" is needed.
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Re: Yeah, just "a few problems to solve".
...says the guy on the Internet.
Look around you and see how many commonplace things in your day-to-day life, including your modern clothing and diet, would have been considered miraculous just 200 years ago.
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http://physics.ucsd.edu/do-the-math/2011/10/why-not-space/
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Re:
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Re:
Tom Murphy isn't particularly competent.
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