Missions to Mars: Are they Really Such a Good Thing?

[jpberg]

I really want to know if The Martian Chronicles really was just Winesburg, Ohio set on Mars. If you don’t get that, well.........,,

 

[elasmo]

Maybe we should go to the Moon first...

 

[Jaylotw]

I think it’s awesome. When I worked in a machine shop, we made a couple parts for NASA. We were not told what they were, what they did or anything beyond “we need this, tolerance is +/- .000, and we will pay you a lot.” It was cool. I was 19 years old, making spacecraft parts!

I’m not worried about them bringing back bacteria, do you really think they don’t have a way to keep that confined if it exists? I mean, you guys realize every hospital lab in the world is able to confine infectious diseases and harmful bacteria, right? You don’t think the brains at NASA couldn’t?

How cool would it be to discover a life form that can survive the huge temperature swings and toxic (to us, anyway) atmosphere of Mars? It’s amazing. I’m enthralled. What questions would that answer, what questions would that raise, and what would we learn about ourselves? I just saw color video from Mars and you geezers are scared! ?

And the mission is just half the story. The research alone is colossal and represents huge advancements for mankind. How much technology that we use and rely on today was first conceived in a NASA lab? Manufacturing advancements, materials advancements, the list is endless.

If you want to moan about wasting money, there are plenty of things we waste money on that don’t advance our knowledge and abilities. NASA supported 24 billion dollars in labor income in 2019. Over 300,000 jobs are connected to the space program and that’s just NASA employees and contractors. It doesn’t include the rest of the impact, like trucking to give one example, that is also supported when a NASA project is being worked on in a town. 64 billion in economic output. It more than pays for itself economically, not to mention the knowledge advancements.

So calm the hell down cause you’re gonna give me heart palpitations. Sit back and enjoy the show.

 

[Casual]

causing loss in bone density

They have apparently licked this. They have a more stringent daily workout routine, and the bone density loss is negligible now. I don’t know about the other stuff.

 

[canucklehead]

They have apparently licked this. They have a more stringent daily workout routine, and the bone density loss is negligible now. I don’t know about the other stuff.

Yeah I like their fancy ISS multi-gym machine, it's pretty cool. One of the problems they had before instituting a heavy load bearing exercise plan is that peoples invertebral disks would actually expand to the point of causing nerve issues.

 

[morgansteele]

This is not science fiction, this is science fact.

Regards,

Jay.?

Do you want SkyNet?!? Because that's how you get SkyNet!

 

[cshubhra]

Always be thankful to the curious folks and support them. Without them, we would be hanging from trees and eating fruits, insects and small animals.

if you think it was fun ... remember there was NO Tobacco and consequently NO pipe smoking

 

[canucklehead]

Do you want SkyNet?!? Because that's how you get SkyNet!

So, the NSA Has an Actual Skynet Program

We've suspected it all along---that the Skynet from the Terminator movies was a fictionalization of a real program in the hands of the US government. And now it's confirmed.

www.wired.com

 

[Chasing Embers]

We'll be killed off by A.I.s before we even scratch the surface.

 

[weezell]

They have the best precautions known to man.

Examples are the National Institute in Potter’s Bar, the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg, and the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China. What could possibly go wrong?

NO ...

 

[Akousticplyr]

I don't think we'd need to worry about any form of new life being an initial threat. This presupposes a closed system -(a fresh water lake, an arctic climate, or a planet like Earth) .

THAT life would have to evolve in our closed system with life HERE so they could develop alongside and therefore interact with each other. After the long slow evolutionary process, there would be the necessary amount of permutations so they COULD affect each other.

Hope this makes sense. A bacteria or virus very slowly over eons evolves towards a form that can survive and thrive in/with the life and environment around it.

The relationships are very delicate balancing acts. Hunter/prey, host/parasite, mutually beneficial co-habitating organisms etc are the tips of many infinite branches of previous iterations that died off or failed due to NOT being able to survive together in that closed system.

But if an alien bacteria could give us super powers, that would be cool.

 

[mawnansmiff]

"i see what you're saying, but I'll also point out that we as humans have been doing an excellent job over the past couple of hundred years at having a detrimental impact on life on Earth. Hard to see how some micro-organisms on Mars will change that."

*My bold.

Not hard to see at all Musicman. Who can say what organisms can thrive in far off planets that we know so little about? Should any unpleasant bacteria arrive here via some space module I suspect that the numbers we are seeing these days regards Covid will appear to be nothing!

I just hope my concerns are unfounded.

Regards,

Jay.?

 

[sablebrush52]

I got to hold a moon rock as a kid and a NASA dreamer, which carried the same concerns prior to 1969.

I got to hold one as well. My uncle had one on permanent loan from NASA, since he had trained the astronauts on how to gather samples to reveal the geological history of our moon.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I have it from a reliable source they will be bringing back long dormant tobacco seeds that will grow plants far superior to any we've ever seen. No ill effects to human health, McClelland like Virginia leaf that doesn't bite with Lakeland essence that doesn't taste like shit. Okay, just kidding about the last part, that's impossible.

Ernie of Watch City has already been awarded an exclusive agreement to distribute the blends from this new tobacco. He's calling the company ... Universal Tobacco. Mars Cigar is of course disputing the rights stating they have been planning for this for decades.

 

[saltedplug]

If they are going to bring this stuff back to earth, they should jar it.

 

[Dan-o$]

They’ve thought it through. The bacteria is inimical to human life and they want it anyway. It’s supposed to be the only thing in our solar system capable of removing oxidation from vulcanite without compromising the material.

Rare Mars material. China mining the moon lol?

 

[carlomarx]

Well, I've watched enough movies to know that things we bring back from other planets don't work out so well for Earth.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Whether we go there to get it, or the shit just impacts our planet, space shit is always just falling from the sky. I just cut it into cabochons and make things to adorn women’s breast chests.
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[Fiddlepiper]

If it’s actually there.... ?

 

[Jaylotw]

I have it from a reliable source they will be bringing back long dormant tobacco seeds that will grow plants far superior to any we've ever seen. No ill effects to human health, McClelland like Virginia leaf that doesn't bite with Lakeland essence that doesn't taste like shit. Okay, just kidding about the last part, that's impossible.

Ernie of Watch City has already been awarded an exclusive agreement to distribute the blends from this new tobacco. He's calling the company ... Universal Tobacco. Mars Cigar is of course disputing the rights stating they have been planning for this for decades.

I can’t wait for the first tin description: “...just a touch of Martian burley to bring out the toasty nuances...”