Click HERE to see this thread with all of the graphics, features, and links.

2-parter:

1. what's the biggest obstacle stopping us from reaching mars? afterall, scientist long ago predicted we'd be there by now. is it simply money? current administration? technology? apathy? maybe biology (scientists still aren't sure the human body could survive a trip to mars -- galactic cosmic rays would likely kill everyone on the trip)?

2. nasa plans ( ) to be back on the moon by 2020 with a base that they might use to get to mars. anyone think they can do it?

Originally posted by leonidas
2-parter:

1. what's the biggest obstacle stopping us from reaching mars? afterall, scientist long ago predicted we'd be there by now. is it simply money? current administration? technology? apathy? maybe biology (scientists still aren't sure the human body could survive a trip to mars -- galactic cosmic rays would likely kill everyone on the trip)?

2. nasa plans ( ) to be back on the moon by 2020 with a base that they might use to get to mars. anyone think they can do it?

1. The amount of fuel, food, and other necessities. So yes, it all boils down to money, homes.

2.

The biggest obstacle to Mars is that damn Moon. Duh

Solar flairs, time and fuel.

it just doesnt matter. they should prioritise and put all resources to planetary defense (against asteroids deano, not lizard men) and exploration via telescopes/probes etc. who the **** cares if a guys walk on mars. what does it accomplish? "ZOMG WE PUT A GUY ON MARS" and then the next day rense.com calls it all a fraud and a hollywood creation. priorities should be set straight.

Personally, leaving Earth and walking on another planet seems to be a great goal, just for shits and grins. I mean, how could would it be to say 'Yeah, I walked on Mars.' So ****ing awesome...

Meanwhile, the Lizard Men are attacking Earth. What do we do?!

Allthought it is not a problem here, "Living" on any other planet bigger then that fo Earth (even just a bit bigger) WILL kill you.

The human body can resist just about Any Amount of Gs for a limited amount of time. (which is why some Parachute misshaps don't always kill) This is true for everything, Drive your car for too long and You Will die, crushed to death. (Might take several hundred years of non stop driving, but it will happen)

its definitely a cost issue...apparently 90% of the cost of any manned mission is life support and space for the people...

if you can cut out them you can reduce the cost

Bodies would adjust, KMP

Space exploration is a barren seam- it needs vast investment and gives you almost nothing back. That's why no-one has bothered, what with all the other problems in the world.

But at some point, space exploration is something we are simply going to HAVE to do. We're not going to sit around on Earth forever.

As soon as it becomes worthwhile to do, we'll do it.

A big sigh stuck in the ground on mars saying "Go away. We dont want you here."

i say mehh f **** it, cuz even if they get down into earnestly its still not gonna happen in any of our lifetimes.....me however, im saving up my 200,000 from now that in another 40 yrs I'll be able to afford the trip to outer space ala burt ratten(sp?) and that virgin dude

Originally posted by manjaro
i say mehh f **** it, cuz even if they get down into earnestly its still not gonna happen in any of our lifetimes.....me however, im saving up my 200,000 from now that in another 40 yrs I'll be able to afford the trip to outer space ala burt ratten(sp?) and that virgin dude

The virgin dude is Richard Branson. And I'll admit their sleek touristy near space travel does look appealing, but I can't help but wonder if it wouldn't lack the charm and atmosphere of going up in a possibly outdated technologically questionable Russian rocket.

it'll be a lot easier once FTL comes out of the theoretical and into the practical

Originally posted by PVS
They should prioritise and put all resources to planetary defense (against asteroids deano, not lizard men)

I'm sorry but that is the funniest quote that i have ever seen.....

Time, boredom, not so much food, they have all those itty bitty candy bars.......probably fuel...

even if they had unltd funds though, scientists still don't know how to shield the human body from cosmic rays. no sense in even trying until such time as we know we could actually survive the trip. as far as the body adapting -- there's no way to tell. we can optimistically speculate that the body would adapt, but would it do so before killing the person? unknown. on a 2.5 year trip to mars a person would lose as much bone density as they would during their entire lifetime on earth. medicines don't last in space (antibiotics may stay good for only a couple weeks for instance) so you're looking at setting up some form of artificial gravity to protect astronauts, some new pharmaceutical breakthroughs to protect meds. money is always the FIRST answer people give, but it is far from the only and may not -- in the end -- be the one that keeps us on earth.

that said, there does seem to be something inherent in us that makes us want to explore though.

i wonder -- would you guys rather see space exploration pursued, or do you think we should further explore earth, the deep oceans in particular, but also the earth's interior as well? i mean damn, we don't even no the ins and outs of our OWN planet's magnetic field, but we speculate on the interiors of other planets!

i thought it was 35 million miles

maybe there is some subversive alien race trying to keep us here on Earth, sabotaging all our efforts along the way so that they can watch when galactus comes to eat us all

Originally posted by leonidas
2-parter:

1. what's the biggest obstacle stopping us from reaching mars? afterall, scientist long ago predicted we'd be there by now. is it simply money? current administration? technology? apathy? maybe biology (scientists still aren't sure the human body could survive a trip to mars -- galactic cosmic rays would likely kill everyone on the trip)?

2. nasa plans ( ) to be back on the moon by 2020 with a base that they might use to get to mars. anyone think they can do it?

How will they get to MARS if their ships are so old they are falling apart before being launched? And they want to go to the moon... hah. NASA should focus on creating the billion dollar man and should be of mexican inspiration and name him Jorge and he should patrol the border with the minutemen (f*ckin gun loving hillbillies) and should shoot bullets from his teets.

seriously, no one thinks we should focus less on doing it now and more on developing FTL propulsion based on current theories in physics?

This issue has nothing to do with the human body OR cost. Because neither matter to a government. What does matter is the benefit of the exercise. And, right now, we aren't getting anything out of space exploration. Granted, we might, if we weren't watching our government thump bibles instead of looking at the situation more realistically.

Space exploration is only a capability of a "super power". And right now, the only "super power" left is the US of A...and it's too fu*ked up to do anything worth while.

...oxygen dependence?

Biggest obstacle: six months w/o gravity and all couped up. That's why I ain't going.

Originally posted by Mindship
Biggest obstacle: six months w/o gravity and all couped up. That's why I ain't going.

can you smoke?...that's what I'm wondering.

the biggest obstacle would be the movie "mars attacks" occuring.

Exploration is a part of human nature. Imagine if Christopher Columbus hadn't wanted to sail across the Atlantic and stayed in Spain, never really knowing what was out there...

Mars is just another place for us to explore, once we have the means of doing so.

@whirly

Originally posted by PVS
it just doesnt matter. they should prioritise and put all resources to planetary defense (against asteroids deano, not lizard men) and exploration via telescopes/probes etc. who the **** cares if a guy walks on mars. what does it accomplish? "ZOMG WE PUT A GUY ON MARS" and then the next day rense.com calls it all a fraud and a hollywood creation. priorities should be set straight.

i meant to just quote it but accudentally bumped the thread

Originally posted by Bashar Teg
@whirly



i meant to just quote it but accudentally bumped the thread haha Mars is a shit plan. Lighter note a scorpion has got in the house and I am spraying under the kitchen counter with sniper ready to stamp the ****er if it makes a run for it.

Originally posted by Old Man Whirly!
haha Mars is a shit plan. Lighter note a scorpion has got in the house and I am spraying under the kitchen counter with sniper ready to stamp the ****er if it makes a run for it.


So, is "Scorpion" and "got on the house" slang for someone you plan to shoot witth a sniper rifle?

Originally posted by cdtm
So, is "Scorpion" and "got on the house" slang for someone you plan to shoot witth a sniper rifle? Nah, it is literally one of the ****ers. Sniper is a brand of household pesticide you get in the tropics.

Wow, nostalgia

Interesting thread

I expect humanity to go to Mars within a relatively short time period (10-20 yrs)