U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame

[biggunsbob]

Did not really know were to post it. Was watching Apollo 13 for the millionth time and looked all the real people portrayed in the movie and found the link to the AHF... Pretty cool if you ask me as when I was a kid reading SF and dreaming of being a astronaut was fun for me. Weather you agree or disagree with NASA and it's small budget compared to other programs getting to the moon first was cool. I love all of our space probes and mars rovers... I don't know but maybe some government is ok.



http://astronautscholarship.org/astronauts/astronaut-hall-of-fame/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Solar_System_probes

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way...-miles-from-shutdown-mars-rovers-keep-working

 

[Thumb]

NASA is a good thing, mankind will always have an inherent instinct for exploration and discovery. But, some things have to be considered. in 1999 NASA made a boo-boo that cost $655.5 million dollars (over a half a billion) because of the tiniest mistake.

I'd actually like to see more joint ventures with other space agencies, which help spread the costs.

 

[Gulo Blue]

The bank bailout was bigger than NASA's budget. Not annual budget. All of it. All the money we've ever spent on NASA, we blew all at once to keep our too big to fail companies in business.

https://twitter.com/neiltyson/status/89347120833888256

 

[biggunsbob]

NASA is a good thing, mankind will always have an inherent instinct for exploration and discovery. But, some things have to be considered. in 1999 NASA made a boo-boo that cost $655.5 million dollars (over a half a billion) because of the tiniest mistake.

I'd actually like to see more joint ventures with other space agencies, which help spread the costs.

Yeah I was pissed about that one.. Look up percentage of probes that get messed up going to Mars..

http://www.space.com/13698-mars-missions-hard-nasa-rover-russian-probe.html

 

[biggunsbob]

Sucks because in 1980 I thought we would have moon bases and bases on Mars and possibly even asteroids by now. Plenty of stuff out there we just need to figure out way to do it safely..

 

[Thumb]

Sucks because in 1980 I thought we would have moon bases and bases on Mars and possibly even asteroids by now. Plenty of stuff out there we just need to figure out way to do it safely..

What would we need them for?

I understand exploration and all that, but it's not like we can mine minerals or drill for oil on any of them. I'm all for funding stuff like that if it has practical uses.

Personally I'm more interested in the un-manned stuff, because it explains more. Dark Matter and Dark Energy are theories that came out of the unmanned space programs. And while many will disagree (Red mostly), it will eventually help us evolve from a race of sun worshipers (which is basically all we are as long as the majority believes a deity created the heavens and earth) to an intelligent species more able to understand our place in what is too large a universe for our comprehension.

 

[biggunsbob]

What would we need them for?

I understand exploration and all that, but it's not like we can mine minerals or drill for oil on any of them. I'm all for funding stuff like that if it has practical uses.

Personally I'm more interested in the un-manned stuff, because it explains more. Dark Matter and Dark Energy are theories that came out of the unmanned space programs. And while many will disagree (Red mostly), it will eventually help us evolve from a race of sun worshipers (which is basically all we are as long as the majority believes a deity created the heavens and earth) to an intelligent species more able to understand our place in what is too large a universe for our comprehension.

I don't disagree because I love probes.. But sooner or later we are going to have to expand and figure out how to do it.. Just a pipe dream.. Maybe we will develop better propulsion or figure out how to live in lower gravities.. Maybe find something not of this earth. Beat the radiation problem. Who knows but probes are probably it for now no doubt about that.. Maybe solar sails .. The Cassini probe is probably my favorites.. But I liked both Pioneers and both voyagers plus many others..

 

[Sbee]

Your mothers an astronaut

 

[Gulo Blue]

And while many will disagree (Red mostly)

Woo! Does this mean you see me as the primary board religious nut?

...regarding unmanned probes, I own a Curiosity Bow tie and some of the old micromachines models of past probes.

Here's the bow tie. I don't even wear bow ties, but this one will grant me the ability to out nerd anyone if I ever need to.

http://www.oootie.com/product/curiosity-on-mars-red-planet-rover-bow-tie

 

[Michchamp]

my understanding is that we need to first build a space elevator, or some similar method of getting things into orbit, before we can really take the next step in exploration/colonization or commercializing space.

the current methods of launching things into orbit are too expensive. i heard some guy say once that even if you could send the space shuttle to the Moon and load it with pure gold and fly back to Earth, it wouldn't justify the cost of the mission. that was just some guy though, so I'm not sure if it's true or not.

 

[Michchamp]

Woo! Does this mean you see me as the primary board religious nut?

...

I'd rank you 5th or 6th, depending on whether you include tLiar.

1st*: tStupid
t-2nd: Byco, KAWDUP, Mitchrapp
5th: LostLeader
6th: Red

 

[byco42]

What would we need them for?

I understand exploration and all that, but it's not like we can mine minerals or drill for oil on any of them. I'm all for funding stuff like that if it has practical uses.

Personally I'm more interested in the un-manned stuff, because it explains more. Dark Matter and Dark Energy are theories that came out of the unmanned space programs. And while many will disagree (Red mostly), it will eventually help us evolve from a race of sun worshipers (which is basically all we are as long as the majority believes a deity created the heavens and earth) to an intelligent species more able to understand our place in what is too large a universe for our comprehension.

Yeah. In all this "infinitecy" our individual cut is about 80 years max. I have higher hopes for myself and for the rest of humanity.

 

[byco42]

I'd rank you 5th or 6th, depending on whether you include tLiar.

1st*: tStupid
t-2nd: Byco, KAWDUP, Mitchrapp
5th: LostLeader
6th: Red

Looks like I have to work harder.

 

[Gulo Blue]

my understanding is that we need to first build a space elevator, or some similar method of getting things into orbit, before we can really take the next step in exploration/colonization or commercializing space.

the current methods of launching things into orbit are too expensive. i heard some guy say once that even if you could send the space shuttle to the Moon and load it with pure gold and fly back to Earth, it wouldn't justify the cost of the mission. that was just some guy though, so I'm not sure if it's true or not.

It needs to be cheaper, but it's not clear to me that the space elevator is the way to go. The launch loop sound equally probable (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Launch_loop) but so do the old nuclear propulsion ideas...which is to say, they all sound pretty unlikely to me. I think it will get cheaper, I just don't know what to bet on being the way we do it.

If you're unaware of nuclear propulsion, skip to the 9 minute mark of this video to see crazy people building devices that ride a series of small explosions:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pcidu6ppcFg

 

[Gulo Blue]

I'd rank you 5th or 6th, depending on whether you include tLiar.

1st*: tStupid
t-2nd: Byco, KAWDUP, Mitchrapp
5th: LostLeader
6th: Red

Wow. I don't recall tsmith getting into religious stuff at all.

 

[Michchamp]

Wow. I don't recall tsmith getting into religious stuff at all.

he did occasionally. he'd take a break from cutting and pasting Freeper or Breitbart links and start talking about how the end of the world was coming, biblical prophecies, and his love of jesus.

 

[Michchamp]

he did occasionally. he'd take a break from cutting and pasting Freeper or Breitbart links and start talking about how the end of the world was coming, biblical prophecies, and his love of jesus.

up until the first time he did it, I figured he was just one of those pro-business GOP guys, but after I read the biblical stuff from him, I realized he was a full-blown right-wing crank, hitting on all the cylinders... taxes, "libs," small government, jesus, racism, he embraced the talking points on every issue without missing a beat.

 

[grandy]

he did occasionally. he'd take a break from cutting and pasting Freeper or Breitbart links and start talking about how the end of the world was coming, biblical prophecies, and his love of jesus.

http://www.detroitsportsforum.com/showthread.php?t=9711

 

[Gulo Blue]

Wow. Yup. He get's the #1 spot.

 

[biggunsbob]

Maybe a combination of government and private.. Space X founded by Elon Musk is a pretty impressive company.. He keeps pushing, and pushing..


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/...r-rocket-altitude-record-video_n_4098755.html


http://www.spacex.com/