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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 45,826
cobra kai 15000+ posts
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cobra kai 15000+ posts
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 45,826 |
for thousands of years, we didnt know squat about our world and/or our universe.
here we are today, much more enlightened than those of the past, and yet, as much knowledge as we've accumulated over those millennia, we still dunno squat about our world and/or our universe.
so, if you were in charge of nasa and the president and the UN, etc, etc... what do you think we should explore?
pour more money into seti (search for extra terrestrial intelligence)? send more people to the moon? map out and explore our oceans? (of which, we know more about the moon, sadly). work on ways to colonize mars? probe around on the forgotten continent of antarctica? etc.
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 4,069
Public Enemy #4 4000+ posts
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Public Enemy #4 4000+ posts
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 4,069 |
While the thought of further exploration into space fascinates the Trekkie in me, I have to say I'd much rather see the billions spent on space programs be used for social programs instead. A fraction of that money could be used to feed the poor or house the homeless. It could be used to establish educational programs for at-risk youth. I'm not saying that all space exploration should be ended. It just seems to me that the government spends much more money than the results warrant. Now, I could see spending more for sea exploration. I have visions of ocean bed farms dancing in my head. I know...I'm a sad, pathetic man....
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 45,826
cobra kai 15000+ posts
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cobra kai 15000+ posts
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 45,826 |
honestly, i dunno which i'd rather do... continue exploring space and all the cool shit out there? or continue (rather, begin) exploring our own oceans, and all the cool shit in there... its a toss up, really. my preference would probably be to continue on both aspects, but try to fuel more desire for exploring our own planet, namely the oceans. we know so little about them... are there giant squid? pleasiasaurs? underwater cities? aliens? how deep does it go? how do things survive? where's atlantis? can we live underwater for sustained periods of time? but then there's all the cool possibilities of space, like alien life, intelligent alien life, the possible colonization of mars, space travel in general, etc, etc... im torn on the issue.
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Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 681
500+ posts
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500+ posts
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Let the space program go private. Then, funnell the money into education. Pay educators to educate. Give all people the same level education, and that will create an equality that we will never reach otherwise.
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 45,826
cobra kai 15000+ posts
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cobra kai 15000+ posts
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 45,826 |
maybe... but you really think that getting paid more means you're better at what you do? lookit how much baseball players make, as an example. the highest paid player right now is alex rodriguez. and, sure, he's great!! but... i could name, off the top of my head, 10 players that are both better and more important to their team. i do agree that education needs to be MUCH more financially supported by our government (teachers should make good, not decent, salaries), however... i think, more importantly, the education system needs to be completely re-evaluated, to ensure its effectiveness. ideas like "tenure," for example, need to be obliterated. sure, my idea for space exlporation and sea exploration is more to please the kid in me, and my sci-fi fantasies and dreams... but... there's also monstrous amounts of scientific data that could be gained from doing one or the other (or both!).
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 55
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I think we should skip space stations and skip right to space colonies on planetary masses (like the moon).
I think NASA should at least get additional funding. Why do we appropriate so much money for war materials when if we ever had a world war 3, we'd all be obliterated by nuclear fire & radiation anyway?
The idea of having a space station for anything other than effects of space on living matter of various types and medical research is really fruitless.
The technology becomes outdated too fast. I believe an enclosed self-sufficent space colony is the way to go. 1. Space exploration is not limited to federal jurisdiction. Last I checked it was too costly to be privatized. As for "well, the money could be used for more practical stuff like education and hospitals", I respond "then why isn't it already?" Next question would be "why is so much education money WASTED?" As far as I know, the majority of New York State income tax is used for education, yet our public schools still suck for the most part.
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 577
500+ posts
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500+ posts
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I think we should decrease the world population, then start making more beautiful women and start fucking like crazy for the hell of it. Then we should find ways to create a better environment. I mean, it's about reducing waste and creating products that are more effecient, running on alternate forms of energy, like shit or something. Eat food, take a crap, and go somewhere. That would be great. Thus less polution cleanses the air, less shit and stuff cleanses the water. Less people means less waste everywhere. But fucking is still good. More porn.
Can live on earth still.
That's what we need.
Not possible, but I like it.
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 15,367 Likes: 13
Banned from the DCMBs since 2002. 15000+ posts
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Banned from the DCMBs since 2002. 15000+ posts
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 15,367 Likes: 13 |
Space colonisation is an imperative. The sooner we green Mars the sooner we double our chances of avoiding a globally-lethal meteor strike.
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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 31
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Heck, we can explore space and oceans at the same time. A moon of Jupiter, is it eros, or titan? I can't remember, basically is a gigantic ocean.
I'd also like to see more exploring done on Venus and Mercury, just because I like the idea of living on Mercury, where the day is longer than the year.
We've already spent trillions on the war on poverty. We lost. Get over it.
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Joined: Jul 2001
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I'm just sayin' 10000+ posts
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I'm just sayin' 10000+ posts
Joined: Jul 2001
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I'd say more space exploration but what have we really explored here lately? We don't really go anywhere but in orbit around the planet.No one has set foot on the moon in years & the most we do with Mars is take pretty pictures.The space program has been stagnant for awhile now so unless they're gonna get off their arses & say start shooting for manned missions to Mars,then relegate that money somewhere else.The Oceans are a good idea.There's a lot of area there to explore.
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 4,948
4000+ posts
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 4,948 |
Every dollar more spent on exploring the oceans brings us one step closer to a real-life SeaQuest DSV.
And that, my friends, will be a golden age.
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 15,367 Likes: 13
Banned from the DCMBs since 2002. 15000+ posts
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Banned from the DCMBs since 2002. 15000+ posts
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 15,367 Likes: 13 |
quote:
Originally posted by Dave:
Space colonisation is an imperative. The sooner we green Mars the sooner we double our chances of avoiding a globally-lethal meteor strike.
I totally disagree with that now, probably because of the shuttle disaster.
Anti-meteor shields are right (we have the moon, anyway), but colonisation is a waste of money right now.
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Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 785
Assassinist 500+ posts
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Assassinist 500+ posts
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 785 |
I think the most important thing for us to do right now is to build a base/launching pad on the moon just so we're a little more prepared to launch a manned space mission to Mars. Now I'm not talking about colonization of the moon but more like sending a team of specialists that could come up with some way to prove that colonization of other planets is viable. Also I believe that it would be a lot easier to send a manned ship to other planets if said ship was already in space. When it comes to our oceans I believe they should build a deep sea labratory, again housing a team of specialists, that could prove that underwater colonization is feasable. That and searching for new information on our oceans.
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