JCC NASA's Future: We stopped dreaming.

I'm one of the thousands of Star Wars fans that have a huge, huge interest into NASA. Star Wars came about a few years after the end of the Apollo moon landings and a few years before the Space Shuttle program - Just like now, a year after the shuttle and a few years before the new rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS) will fly to the moon. Just next month, the company SpaceX shall launch a capsule from Cape Canaveral to the International Space Station.

I've not heard a single person who knows what SLS is, but it's the replacement for the shuttle that it's first flight will launch an Orion capsule straight to the moon.


Anyways, I wanted to post a thread about the future of NASA and what you all think of what we should do, because we're in a time of transition and while politicians play with money, they also pay with our future, and our dreams, the very thing NASA is all about.. Also, I suggest watching this video - it's quite moving, and it's so true.

I don't think we've stopped dreaming, but the reality of this "orderly society" has certainly repressed dreams. The Orion program could have been a reality by now if the stupid "no nuclear bombs in space" treaty had never been signed....or whatever.

I find it odd that nuclear bombs being used as propulsion technology is somehow worse than weapons technology.

I think we ought to re-examine ourselves if we're trying to lament the fact that nuclear-grade enriched materials haven't proliferated more readily.

What do you mean? Sorry if I missed a point there, but I can't think of ANY better use for nuclear weapons technology.

There isn't. And this also isn't a good use.

Which is why there probably should be any weapons grade material at all.

The new Star Trek novel The Rings of Time deals with humanity's current apathy for manned space missions, because the non-23rd century scenes are set in the year 2020, aboard a ship going to Saturn. The head astronaut in those scenes laments such things like the fact that there are no space-based narrative TV series currently on the air (which is sad, because it's true).

I see your point, however I must disagree...with part of it. These weapons exist. We have the power, as a species, to destroy ourselves, OR to use these implements of destruction to explore our solar system (or more). Why not put them to good use? Because of some meaningless paper?

I wholeheartedly believe that since we have not yet unlocked the technical mystery of fusion (and are unlikely to do so anytime soon) that we should employ the means at our disposal and put these bombs to good use. It's absurd and insane that they exist in the numbers that they do. Orion could be a reality. Why mankind has this annoying habit of clinging to the dark-age line of thinking is beyond not just me.

C'mon....I was getting into this.

*sigh*

As if I needed another reason to be angry.

Btw, my last post was directed at you, wocky, and not DantheJedi who happened to butt in with some worthless crap about star trek.

This thread deserves more attention.

I can sympathize with people who are generally sad about NASA's funding. The truth is that all basic sciences and research disciplines are relatively under-funded, and this is no exception. However, what I do have a problem with is all the moaning and carrying on that presupposes that this is intrinsically much more important than any of a half dozen other fields facing similar problems, and who have never enjoyed even have so much federal largesse as NASA has.

Further, I do not think it wise to proliferate nuclear material in any form. While the technology does indeed exist, a world without nuclear weaponry is exponentially safer than one that has them, and just because a problem exists is no reason to make it worse.

Finally, the talk about having a "destiny in the stars" is nice as a rhetorical tool. But it's foolish to talk about making serious, heavy investment for something that is, at best, several centuries away. The preventable destruction of Earth (and therefore mankind) is not in any way imminent, such that this would be demanded. The only possible exception here is upgrading an asteroid monitoring/defense system, which wouldn't take much more than a small fraction of even NASA's current budget.

The problem is not that "We stopped dreaming." It's that times are hard. Deal with it.

What about private sector?

Those guys are still dreaming.

Yeah, and I think that over the next 30 to 40 years we willl see an increase in the number of private space programs, but I think what we also need to be cosidering is the fact that the International Space Station gives us a road map for the future of space exploration. What I mean by that is the fact that ventures like manned missions to Mars and so forth may be beyond the capacity of any one country to pay for and may require an ISS-style international venture. I think the best thing to do would be to acknowledge that fact and merge all the world's major space programs; NASA, Canada, the ESA, Japan, Russia and China, into a single global space initiative. Think of it as NATO for the space powers.

Yes times are hard. I think it's ridiculous that nuclear proliferation continues and dismantling stagnates. I think it's ridiculous that schools and infrastructure and NASA are things that are sorely underfunded while the pentagon enjoys a huge slice of the pie every year.

Maybe humankind, as an "organized" whole has simply got its priorities wrong.

As for the private sector...they can afford to dream.

I'm not sure what you are talking about here. There is the cancelled Orion capusle program and there is the explode nuclear bombs on Earth to launch a rocket into space Orion. If you are that dude "project orion" who got banned from Space.com for spamming every single forum and thread one day because people disagreed with you then maybe you should just step off and go elsewhere. And by all means PM a mod. I will be more than happy to explain your past to them.

I was referring to the Orion capsule program, and no, I'm not that guy. Most of you knew me as Mortimer_Snerd on the old forum. I'm not sure I'll ever be the same.

WHAT? Really? Snerd? I wuvs me some Snerd. There's no...no...hug smiley!

Aww...okay you sick weirdo let's get back to NASA.

http://marsrover.nasa.gov/home/index.html

What do you guys think of the prospects that Mars has to offer? From an informational point of view of course. Colonization seems, even to a dreamer, a bit far off.

Wait, you're Snerd? I knew you couldn't be a newbie, but I couldn't place who you really were either.

Anyway, I don't know much of anything about Project Orion, or most other programs, which is a shame because I really do have a keen interest in space travel. I've long felt that humans, as a species with the capacity to destroy ourselves, should probably put a sizable chunk of money into R&D to make things easier and generally safer. Also, if and when colonization eventually does come along, however far off that may be, I always support having escape plans in case Earth doesn't work out.

It always reminds me of something from an xkcd comic. "The universe is probably littered with the one-planet graves of cultures which made the sensible economic decision that there's no good reason to go into space--each discovered, studied, and remembered by the ones who made the irrational decision"