Heads up on the landing of 'Perseverance' on Mars tomorrow ( thursday) https://www.space.com/perseverance-mars-2020-rover-landing-video very much looking forward to the successful landing after a 6 months journey. https://www.space.com/mars-rover-perseverance-landing-explained
The lander crane, after successfully lowering the rover to the planet’s surface, will fly off and crash land somewhere clear of the landing site. WTF ? Andy
It's actually not all that difficult, but it is expensive (albeit $3bn is a drop in the ocean of the US military budget) and there's a long gestation period. Unfortunately that means it is tough to get the funding for these sort of projects when often philistinic politicians tend to think in 4 year cycles and want to science to produce immediate tangible commercial or military benefits. If we really put our minds and money to it, we probably could have mastered interstellar travel by now. If it finds signs of life, that would be one of the hugest philosophical milestones that humans have ever experienced so the next few years will be interesting.
just caught this in time on YouTube by sheer fluke on PBS News Channel. "it's actually not all that difficult" Zhed.. I nearly said, "what planet are you on?" Maybe it's me but, can't see how it's anything but..
Getting there is a just a matter of chemistry and Newtonian physics. Obviously it’s challenging from an engineering perspective but the basic vehicle/propulsion tech hasn’t moved on much since the 60s. I didn’t mean that I don’t think the mission is amazing, because I do. It’s just that we’ve been chucking bits of metal at Mars for 40 odd years now when, like I said, with some long term thinking combined with enough will and wonga, we could be travelling to the stars rather than still pottering around in our own back yard.
Nasa is not actually military, although of course the military has a huge influence. You are right about short minded politicians though. Interstellar travel? Not for a thousand years without Aliens giving us tech that seems like magic. And No Humans will ever actually visit another star. We just cannot survive in space, we need gravity and other earth stuff. so the people that ever do go wont really be the Humans we are now, and even if they ran into Captain Kirk to get a ride home they could no longer live here with the changes that they had. The real question is how much will we change our DNA and still be called Human. BUT It is very cool. I watched. When I was just a kid I got to go up in the elevator and touch Apollo 11 before it took off. In the Hangar of course. My Uncle worked for Grumman and was in charge of the (Or parts of) the L.E.M. I guess I was 4 or 5. Scary, my Dad dragged me into the elevator and along the gangway?? but I touched it. After that the fear was gone. My Brother asked if we could write our names on the seat (Hatch was open I think) so we could see it on TV. I even got to go around once in that centrifugal force machine... I was a REAL Astronaut!!