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NASA's rover Curiosity lands on Mars [W:206]

jamesrage said:
Useless knowledge gained is still a selfish indulgence.
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Not if it has a positive externality - unless of course we'd like to argue the genetic coding (and selfish nature) of altruism.
 
danarhea said:
The first picture from Curiosity is now in. This is impressive.

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It's good but the Viking 1 lander did the same thing 34 years ago (albeit without the sky crane). The Viking lander had no wheels but that's not much of a technological hurdle.
 
specklebang said:
You silly dirtlings finally achieve something and instead you'll be discussing birth certificates all day instead of your major move forward toward joining the inter-galactic federation.

You think I'm kidding. I'm not.

Today, your planet really did something important.
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We don't want to join the intergalactic federation--too much bureaucracy.
 
zgoldsmith23 said:
Inter-galactic travel is highly improbable given the limitations of c.
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That's totally false. Alcubierre showed that GR doesn't prohibit warp drive.

zgoldsmith23 said:
Anyways, yay!
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I think the first man on Mars will generate the first real big "yay!" humanity has had since 1969. In any case, man still lacks an understanding of the physics needed for warp drive/transporter, FTL communication, etc.
 
jamesrage said:
Are you saying a shorter route to the Far East is not a direct benefit to her and Spain? A couple billion dollars to send a toy to Mars has no direct benefit to us.Its just unnecessarily spending money we don't have.
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And if they found life on Mars with this rover? Would that discovery be unnecessary?
 
Oh boy, we landed on Mars AGAIN.

According to the Office of Management and Budget and the Air Force Almanac, when measured in real terms (adjusted for inflation), NASA has spent $790.0 billion, or an average of $15.818 billion dollars per year over its fifty year history.

■6 landings by USA ■Mars Program
■Viking Program
■Sojourner Rover
■"Spirit" and "Opportunity"

■3 USSR ■Mars Program

■1 ESA ■Beagle Series

■Things discovered from past missions ■A Martian year is 687 Earth days
■At one point was drenched with water
■Mars may have sustained life

I'm not sure which face fits here so I will make both of them. :roll::doh
 
solletica said:
That's totally false. Alcubierre showed that GR doesn't prohibit warp drive
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I know all about Alcubierre. Go ahead and list me some technologies that are possible using this ... I'll wait.

I think the first man on Mars will generate the first real big "yay!" humanity has had since 1969. In any case, man still lacks an understanding of the physics needed for warp drive/transporter, FTL communication, etc.
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Warp drives are possible. Transporters really aren't as there is no way to control the way atoms are placed. You'd leave X being as you are and show up Y as a completely different arrangement.
 
Lachean said:
And if they found life on Mars with this rover? Would that discovery be unnecessary?
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Yes. Micro-organisms do not justify us spending billions of dollars to find it.
 
zgoldsmith23 said:
Not if it has a positive externality - unless of course we'd like to argue the genetic coding (and selfish nature) of altruism.
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and what positive externalities will I enjoy from this mission, pray tell?
 
Lachean said:
And if they found life on Mars with this rover? Would that discovery be unnecessary?
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Largely, yes.

We already know that life can develop on a planet, given favorable conditions.
 
Wow. I naively thought this thread would be filled with people saying, "That's AWESOME". Because it really is.
 
It's incredible that that Rube Goldberg landing sequence they came up with actually worked. Chalk one up for computer simulations, or whatever.

I'm glad I didn't put down any money on my estimation of their chances of a good landing. Seriously, I was expecting another sad story about a probe that stopped transmitting suddenly, and about $2.5 billion that went *poof*.

Kudos to the JPL people.
 
the_recruit said:
and what positive externalities will I enjoy from this mission, pray tell?
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More should be learned from this venture than the past 40 years about Mars. NASA has shown it can be effective. My generation can now look forward to other quests into space instead of the bleek future NASA had not long ago. Curiosity will collect Martian samples including water, minerals, organics, and other rocks. It answers the age old question(s) of whether Mars has, can, or could maintain any life.
 
zgoldsmith23 said:
More should be learned from this venture than the past 40 years about Mars. NASA has shown it can be effective. My generation can now look forward to other quests into space instead of the bleek future NASA had not long ago. Curiosity will collect Martian samples including water, minerals, organics, and other rocks. It answers the age old question(s) of whether Mars has, can, or could maintain any life.
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That's true, and probably of more significance -- the landing system they worked out will likely form the basis for future manned missions to Mars and elsewhere. You probably wouldn't get too many volunteers using the old system of sticking the payload inside a giant beachball and punting it down to the surface. :)
 
I think it's cool. Many many modern conveniences and inventions came from our space program. We posted on that topic several months ago, as I recall. It's will worth the cost.
 
Rosie1 said:
I think it's cool. Many many modern conveniences and inventions came from our space program. We posted on that topic several months ago, as I recall. It's will worth the cost.
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Its worth the cost, simply because we, as a race, need to aspire to something beyond our politics.
 
sawyerloggingon said:
Does the term, "been there done that" ring a bell?
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It doesn't strike you as amazing that in the [20,000 years modern Humans (agricultural capabilities)] or [50,000 years modern Humans (tools were first constructed)] or [200,000 years modern Humans (first Homo)] we have explored other planets? In 50 years we've gone from the moon to Mars. That doesn't appeal to you? Doesn't excite you?
 
I don't think we need a 'humanity-wide' push before we can get into space exploration... the US spends more on military air conditioning than it does on NASA, and doubling its budget would take... what? 5% reduction in agricultural subsidies?
 
zgoldsmith23 said:
He can't win with you, can he?
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So, to the left, Obama gets all kinds of praise for things like this, and none of the blame for our weak economy, high unemployment numbers, low business start up numbers, etc etc...

How anyone can say he's good for America is beyond me. Honestly.
 
Masada said:
So, to the left, Obama gets all kinds of praise for things like this, and none of the blame for our weak economy, high unemployment numbers, low business start up numbers, etc etc...

How anyone can say he's good for America is beyond me. Honestly.
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There's a difference in legitimate criticism and just being a hack who despises anything someone on the Left does.
 
zgoldsmith23 said:
It doesn't strike you as amazing that in the [20,000 years modern Humans (agricultural capabilities)] or [50,000 years modern Humans (tools were first constructed)] or [200,000 years modern Humans (first Homo)] we have explored other planets? In 50 years we've gone from the moon to Mars. That doesn't appeal to you? Doesn't excite you?
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It did the first time yes, the thrill is gone and it's just a waste of money now.
 
sawyerloggingon said:
It did the first time yes, the thrill is gone and it's just a waste of money now.
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Thrill? Knowledge was and continues to be the motivating factor behind expeditions such as these, at least among serious circles.
 
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