to the Moon, and Mars

[EddMarkStarr]

Science fiction on television rarely show humans in a realistic light when faced with the unknown.

As a result, I was completely unprepared for the 4-hour Martian Chronicles miniseries, broadcast on NBC, in 1979. To this day, the Martian Chronicles miniseries remains the greatest display of human frailty and mental illness ever broadcast on television. The levels of disfunction displayed by the first Mars colonists was so disturbing, NBC found itself in a public uproar that made the evening news, on all three television networks! In response to widespread criticism - NBC announced that the entire miniseries would be re-broadcast in January 1980, and encouraged everyone to watch it a second time to truly understand the realities of living in an alien environment.

The most deadly aspect of humans trying to colonize another planet - our mental health.

 

[NotHardUp1]

I'm a great believer in the human spirit. The drive of our species is an amazing force.

But I've studied science at various levels, too. And I'm very aware of the folly of hubris, and the inevitability of math.

The math is an ocean, and humans outside the envelope of Earth are less than an inflatable pool float when removed any significant distance from this planet. Out there, there is no Plan B. It's a single failure, and instant death, or worse, gradual deterioration with no life support.

Little will happen in our lifetime, but in the next two generations, there will be ghastly failures even before bases are possible.

 

[Harke the Boeotarch]

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

Terence McKenna, the magic mushroom guru, said in one of his lectures (in the nineties?) that the dream of Space Exploration had appeared to have worked as nothing but a publicity stunt for the financing of intercontinental ballistic missiles during the Cold War.

When the Cold War ended, so did effective progress in manned spaceflight.

 

[pigface]

that the dream of Space Exploration had appeared to have worked as nothing but a publicity stunt for the financing of intercontinental ballistic missiles during the Cold War

Ended as it began - a progression of Wehner von Braun's V2.

 

[Harke the Boeotarch]

Ended as it began - a progression of Wehner von Braun's V2.

Von Braun worked with forced labor.

Maybe bring back Slavery?

 

[pigface]

Von Braun worked with forced labor.

Some have harsh words for this man of renown, but some say our attitude should be one of gratitude - like the widows and cripples of old London town who owe their large pensions to Wehner von Braun.

 

[smokeshadow]

After 46 years, Voyager 1 is still sending data back to NASA. Originally planned for only a 5 or so year life span, both Voyagers are still going strong.

MSN

To put this into some perspective. . .the original Star Wars had only been out for about a year. The Atari Video Computer System was the best selling home computer. The TI-45 and HP-31E were among the more popular pocket calculators at the time. And, I graduated from college with a Bachelor of Architecture degree after 5 1/2 long years of study

 

[pornoboy]

Wernher von Braun​

Wernher von Braun was one of the most important German weapons specialists to work on rocketry and jet propulsion in the United States after World War II.
He disapproved of military use of the rocket and surrendered willingly to American troops in 1945,
eventually becoming technical director of the U.S. Army Ordnance Guided Missile Project in Alabama.
He was also chiefly responsible for rocketry for the nation's space program.

​

 

[EddMarkStarr]

The first time I ever heard Wernher von Braun speak on camera was the Disneyland Television episode, "Man in Space", from 1955.

There are scenes in this film that are astounding, but animation is easy - space travel is hard work.

 

[pigface]

 

[rareboy]

The Future: