White House Briefed On Potential For Mars Life
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and we couldn't f**k up the atmosphere anymore than it already is at least :suss:
"mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"
Hey, aren't you someone's little sister, potty mouth?
Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.
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Hey, aren't you someone's little sister, potty mouth?
Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.
ummmmmmmmm no not really but sorry if i offended :|
"mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"
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ummmmmmmmm no not really but sorry if i offended :|
"mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"
:laugh: Didn't find your post offensive. You could just redefining kid sister.
"The clue train passed his station without stopping." - John Simmons / outlaw programmer "Real programmers just throw a bunch of 1s and 0s at the computer to see what sticks" - Pete O'Hanlon
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PeterTheSwede wrote:
USSR?
Brain Fart. :-O
PeterTheSwede wrote:
I doubt either China, Japan or Russia (or EU, for that matter) will afford such missions in a reasonable time-frame.
China's got the cash, but she doesn't have the technological infrastructure (I think; I could be wrong.) Russia has less cash, but their own oil supplies make them far from poor. They obviously have space-worth technology. By 2010, they will be the only country capable of space flight. The US has the technological infrastructure to do it most easily, I agree. The problem is that we're in hock up to our eyeballs to China and Arabia. Maybe we need to take a leaf from the Bolsheviks (and Murray Rothbard) and repudiate our public debt. Short of that, we could do it, but only with a commitment as least as strong as the one Kennedy made to NASA or even better, that FDR made to the Manhattan Project. The EU? They're still trying to figure out whether they're a Confederation or just NATO without the US. There's no central authority strong enough to withstand the 'need' to provide a six-week summer vacation.
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface
I seem to remember a preface to one of (I think) Larry Nivens books where he priced returning to the moon by the US govt at 100 times private enterprise (outside the US). This was based on the level of PC and bureaucracy. The $ numbers if say Guatemala did it were quite reasonable, the human cost was not acceptable by western standards.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH
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USSR? You've been in hibernation for 17 years? You must be thinking of the Russian Federation, I suspect... Otherwise, I agree. But I doubt either China, Japan or Russia (or EU, for that matter) will afford such missions in a reasonable time-frame. Possibly not even the US. A joint venture on the other hand, might be feasible.
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I seem to remember a preface to one of (I think) Larry Nivens books where he priced returning to the moon by the US govt at 100 times private enterprise (outside the US). This was based on the level of PC and bureaucracy. The $ numbers if say Guatemala did it were quite reasonable, the human cost was not acceptable by western standards.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH
Mycroft Holmes wrote:
Larry Nivens books where he priced returning to the moon by the US govt at 100 times private enterprise
Wasn't that the one where his main character built a space station under the aegis of the Falklands, incurring the wrath of both the US and the UN?
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface
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There is a difference?
Visit http://www.notreadytogiveup.com/[^] and do something special today.
Technically. CIS is smaller than the USSR. That's about it really.
Don't forget to vote if the response was helpful
Sig history "You're an idiot." John Simmons, THE Outlaw programmer "I realised that all of my best anecdotes started with "So there we were, pissed". Pete O'Hanlon Unix is a Four Letter Word, and Vi is a Two Letter Abbreviation
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Mycroft Holmes wrote:
Larry Nivens books where he priced returning to the moon by the US govt at 100 times private enterprise
Wasn't that the one where his main character built a space station under the aegis of the Falklands, incurring the wrath of both the US and the UN?
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface
IIRC it was an anthology of short stories but there was as much philosophy and gumph in the forward for each story as there was a story. Fascinating insight into a great SF writers thinking. I remember thinking at the time (late 90s I think) that BG could just about afford to put a team on the moon.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH
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Saturn's smoggy moon Titan has hundreds of times more natural gas and other liquid hydrocarbons than all the known oil and natural gas reserves on Earth, scientists said today. Hollow out a few small asteroids with nukes; fill 'em up and send em to earth (first one ought to make a nuclear-powered return, the rest can just slowly fall inward.) If the U.S. doesn't do it, China, Japan or the USSR will.
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface
Oakman wrote:
Hollow out a few small asteroids with nukes; fill 'em up and send em to earth
The liability insurance on the re-entry is likely to be prohibitive. And one high angle bad entry might wipe out the customer base...
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Oakman wrote:
Hollow out a few small asteroids with nukes; fill 'em up and send em to earth
The liability insurance on the re-entry is likely to be prohibitive. And one high angle bad entry might wipe out the customer base...
Rob Graham wrote:
The liability insurance on the re-entry is likely to be prohibitive. And one high angle bad entry might wipe out the customer base...
No entry for the asteroid. Build refineries on the Moon or L5. Use super-shuttles fitted out as tankers. There's still some risk, of course, but there's risk now, every time a tanker off-loads in NJ. Better to have a oil-filled shuttle explode in the New Mexico desert than a super tanker take out everything from NYC to Newark. IMHO, of course. New Mexican's mileage may vary
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface