to the Moon, and Mars

[EddMarkStarr]

There are many aspects of the 1980's that I miss, but the optimism over our common future in space is what I truly miss the most.
The 1990's would see the establishment of a Moon base, the early 2000's would see the first Martian colony.

In 1986, a four-part documentary called, "The Great Space Race", aired on PBS in the United States.
Today, I can only find Part 4 online, and I'd like to celebrate my birthday by posting what I consider an important historical video - that's sooo very 80's!

 

[NotHardUp1]

Happy Birthday, young man!

Are you going to retire to celebrate?

BTW, I was headed to the Post Something Funny thread, but yours is the topic-ish, so here, have a laugh:

 

[Peloso]

While I can understand man's curiosity and fascination with space, do you think maybe we can divert some of the billions of dollars we shoot up there to maybe trying to sustain life here on our planet?

Once we get rid of all the Walgreens and republicans, we can play starman again.

 

[Kahaih]

While I can understand man's curiosity and fascination with space, do you think maybe we can divert some of the billions of dollars we shoot up there to maybe trying to sustain life here on our planet?

Once we get rid of all the Walgreens and republicans, we can play starman again.

OMG, I take it you haven't tried to hire a sniper recently. They're not cheap.

Let the rocket gang try to find a couple of new gods to interview. Obviously all of the old ones grossly over exaggerated their abilities.

 

[gsdx]

While I can understand man's curiosity and fascination with space, do you think maybe we can divert some of the billions of dollars we shoot up there to maybe trying to sustain life here on our planet?

Once we get rid of all the Walgreens and republicans, we can play starman again.

Space exploration is vital. We may need an interstellar ark sooner than we think.

 

[unloadonme]

 

[Peloso]

Space exploration is vital. We may need an interstellar ark sooner than we think.

I'm not so sure. What has space exploration ever achieved for mankind other than knowledge? And I'm not talking about us checking out the moon or making money or putting satellites up. People don't need space. Tech CEOs do, but by definition, tech CEOs aren't people.

Besides, it's uninhabitable for a reason. You can't defy nature.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/...cer risk from cosmic,spending big money on it

 

[EddMarkStarr]

Happy Birthday, young man!

Are you going to retire to celebrate?

BTW, I was headed to the Post Something Funny thread, but yours is the topic-ish, so here, have a laugh:

Thank You - needed a good laugh!

My retirement plans are on hold while I observe the situation with public schools in King County government.

 

[EddMarkStarr]

Space exploration is vital. We may need an interstellar ark sooner than we think.

The 1980's was the last time I felt a general enthusiasm for establishing a human presence beyond Earth. The realities of cost and practical life-support has caused a much needed discussion about the maturity of expecting to spread the human family to other worlds.

Science fiction books, movies and television make the next frontier feel exciting. The real price, aside from money, could be your life.
The animation of "The Great Space Race" is entertaining but only in the comfort of my home.

 

[NotHardUp1]

The 1980's was the last time I felt a general enthusiasm for establishing a human presence beyond Earth. The realities of cost and practical life-support has caused a much needed discussion about the maturity of expecting to spread the human family to other worlds.

Science fiction books, movies and television make the next frontier feel exciting. The real price, aside from money, could be your life.
The animation of "The Great Space Race" is entertaining but only in the comfort of my home.

To the great credit of writers and cinema, fantasy has expanded and imagining the impossible has grown to such a degree, that parameters and assumptions, like wormholes, have become part of the collective mind.

In one sense it is deleterious because it builds false premise upon false premise upon false premise, but it also fosters some imagination and creativity.

 

[rareboy]

The 1980's was the last time I felt a general enthusiasm for establishing a human presence beyond Earth. The realities of cost and practical life-support has caused a much needed discussion about the maturity of expecting to spread the human family to other worlds.

Science fiction books, movies and television make the next frontier feel exciting. The real price, aside from money, could be your life.
The animation of "The Great Space Race" is entertaining but only in the comfort of my home.

I lost interest years ago.

I can't imagine ruining more than what we already have.

I will be content that we only live here but learn about the universe until such time as we get beyond the rapacious need to exploit more.

 

[Peloso]

I lost interest years ago.

I can't imagine ruining more than what we already have.

I will be content that we only live here but learn about the universe until such time as we get beyond the rapacious need to exploit more.

There have already been calls to stop overdevelopment on the moon. Pretty soon there will be a Walgteens up there.

I don't know why we don't just shoot our trash into space. It's an infinite landfill! What's the worst that could happen?

 

[rareboy]

The earth would lose so much mass that we'd spin out of orbit?

At least based on what I see of the amount of trash we produce.

 

[Kahaih]

. . . .

I don't know why we don't just shoot our trash into space. It's an infinite landfill! What's the worst that could happen?

Quiet, please.

We're hoping nobody notices the moon over on the horizon when the big ball of garbage causes the upcoming eclipse.

 

[pigface]

I can't imagine ruining more than what we already have.

I will be content that we only live here but learn about the universe until such time as we get beyond the rapacious need to exploit more.

There are more stars in the universe - by a factor of about 10,000 - than there are grains of sand on all the beaches on Earth.

Our wrecking a planet or two or three is spectacularly inconsequential.

 

[NotHardUp1]

Our wrecking a planet or two or three is spectacularly inconsequential.

Sure, that's easy to say when they're not YOUR planets.

 

[pigface]

Sure, that's easy to say when they're not YOUR planets.

 

[peeonme]

When the USSR fell we had no one to race against.

 

[Rickrock]

^ Not then, but now China is in the race.

 

[peeonme]

^ Not then, but now China is in the race.

It's complicated. The USSR was out to prove that communism was better than capitalism. The USA was out to disprove any benefits from socialism.

Kitchen Debate - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The above link demonstrates the animosity that each nation held for the other. Part of proving our way was better was to put a man on the moon first. The Soviets were ahead for a while with sputnik and putting Yuri Gagarin in space. It was always tit for tat. Who had the biggest bomb etc.

I suppose that the USA doesn't see China in the same way that we saw the Soviets. Perhaps it's because China has allowed capitalism on their shores so it's no longer an ideological contest. China today seems to not be expansionist as the Soviet Union was.