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I find it frustrating NASA talking about putting people on Mars but if you look at reality, it can't even put astronauts in the orbit anymore. What about solvin

I find it frustrating NASA talking about putting people on Mars but if you look at reality, it can't even put astronauts in the orbit anymore. What about solving that problem first, and when it's done, then we can dream about Mars... Or are we going to outsource such mundane tasks like manned orbital space flight to the Russians and Chinese forever, while we are proudly preparing the colonization of Mars? /s

fyfy18 9y ago
What’s wrong with collaborating and using the collective knowledge of the human race to achieve this? It’s really no different than using private contractors to do the same thing. NASA can’t do everything themselves, so why not let Russia launch the rockets while the US and other countries focus on other parts of the mission?
zach43 9y ago
> it can’t even put astronauts in orbit anymore But this isn’t really a NASA problem, this is a US government funding problem right? I can’t imagine how anyone can put people in space without the budget for it
- ifdefdebug 9y ago
  If there is no funding for orbital space flight, how are they supposed to go to Mars? Missing funds is a NASA problem, it's NASA's biggest problem today, and if it doesn't get fixed, nobody goes to Mars (at least nobody from NASA). IMO all that sandbox research they are doing now is useless, because they ain't gonna need it: they ain't gonna need it if they are not going, and they ain't gonna need it if and when they are really preparing to go because everything is gonna be different and nobody will give a shit about how such a power device might have looked like 10 years ago.
imglorp 9y ago
I find it encouraging the private sector is filling the gap. Musk's vision is clear if you assemble all the pieces his companies have built on Mars: solar and battery power, tunnel boring for both shelter, water, and air (which could imply return fuel he can do O2+H2). Solar might not be the most efficient for Mars, but he can bring tons of it without messing with nuclear politics and PR. Note also the Boring Company TBM diameter is less than the BFS. Don't be surprised if a TBM one of the first payloads. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Mars_transportation_infrastructure#Passenger_spaceship https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Mars_transportation_inf... https://www.boringcompany.com/faq/ https://www.boringcompany.com/faq/
- Balgair 9y ago
  I agree that Elon's companies do have suspiciously many things to do with Mars habitats. However, the reliability of the tech we have is severely lacking. To get off Mars, you are going to need a rocket. So then you need to land a rocket on Mars. Fully fueled. You also need a backup. We simply do not have that kind of reliability yet, and I don't think we're even close. Fine, we'll fuel it on Mars. That means a remote robotic mining-facility and rocket-fuel-plant, in nearly no atmosphere, in cold temps, up to 16 light-minutes away (at worst, true). So it's gotta be totally autonomous. And not explode while people are in transit. And it's likely going be on a pole, so that you have easy access to fuelstuffs. Which is boring as all heck compared to Valles Marianas (not a big deal, admittedly) If we have that tech on Mars, then the economy of Earth is going to look a LOT different. Self-driving cars aren't the half of it. Mars, in a nutshell, is VERY Hard.
indubitable 9y ago
Commercial crew tests (SpaceX/Boeing taking astronauts to the ISS) begin this year with plans for the first crewed flight in June. [1] [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_Crew_Development#Flights https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_Crew_Development#Fl...
godelski 9y ago
Except NASA was never really making the rockets in the first place. The US military and NASA work through contracts. The only thing that has really changed is that there are more competitors in the market now.
debt 9y ago
I think outsourcing is precisely what we're doing; we're good at that. Spaceflight is easy, creating a nuclear battery might be easy too, maybe even something we can outsource, but it's the one thing we definitely do not want other countries working on.
adventured 9y ago
The entire subject of what you're talking about, is a non-issue. Five years ago it was barely a legitimate concern. It has no legitimacy at this point. The problem, isn't a problem, it's solved. See: Boeing and SpaceX. Add 8 to 12 months. Done. And just like that, NASA has access to superior human launch capabilities versus Russia and China. And that's before Blue Origin builds out its New Glenn monster. Russia will fall very far behind over the next five years, only China will be able to afford to keep up over time. SpaceX already passed Russia in launches this year. That's going to get a lot worse.

fyfy18 9y ago

What’s wrong with collaborating and using the collective knowledge of the human race to achieve this? It’s really no different than using private contractors to do the same thing. NASA can’t do everything themselves, so why not let Russia launch the rockets while the US and other countries focus on other parts of the mission?

zach43 9y ago

> it can’t even put astronauts in orbit anymore But this isn’t really a NASA problem, this is a US government funding problem right? I can’t imagine how anyone can put people in space without the budget for it

ifdefdebug 9y ago
If there is no funding for orbital space flight, how are they supposed to go to Mars? Missing funds is a NASA problem, it's NASA's biggest problem today, and if it doesn't get fixed, nobody goes to Mars (at least nobody from NASA). IMO all that sandbox research they are doing now is useless, because they ain't gonna need it: they ain't gonna need it if they are not going, and they ain't gonna need it if and when they are really preparing to go because everything is gonna be different and nobody will give a shit about how such a power device might have looked like 10 years ago.

imglorp 9y ago

I find it encouraging the private sector is filling the gap. Musk's vision is clear if you assemble all the pieces his companies have built on Mars: solar and battery power, tunnel boring for both shelter, water, and air (which could imply return fuel he can do O2+H2). Solar might not be the most efficient for Mars, but he can bring tons of it without messing with nuclear politics and PR. Note also the Boring Company TBM diameter is less than the BFS. Don't be surprised if a TBM one of the first payloads. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Mars_transportation_infrastructure#Passenger_spaceship https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Mars_transportation_inf... https://www.boringcompany.com/faq/ https://www.boringcompany.com/faq/

Balgair 9y ago
I agree that Elon's companies do have suspiciously many things to do with Mars habitats. However, the reliability of the tech we have is severely lacking. To get off Mars, you are going to need a rocket. So then you need to land a rocket on Mars. Fully fueled. You also need a backup. We simply do not have that kind of reliability yet, and I don't think we're even close. Fine, we'll fuel it on Mars. That means a remote robotic mining-facility and rocket-fuel-plant, in nearly no atmosphere, in cold temps, up to 16 light-minutes away (at worst, true). So it's gotta be totally autonomous. And not explode while people are in transit. And it's likely going be on a pole, so that you have easy access to fuelstuffs. Which is boring as all heck compared to Valles Marianas (not a big deal, admittedly) If we have that tech on Mars, then the economy of Earth is going to look a LOT different. Self-driving cars aren't the half of it. Mars, in a nutshell, is VERY Hard.

indubitable 9y ago

Commercial crew tests (SpaceX/Boeing taking astronauts to the ISS) begin this year with plans for the first crewed flight in June. [1] [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_Crew_Development#Flights https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_Crew_Development#Fl...

godelski 9y ago

Except NASA was never really making the rockets in the first place. The US military and NASA work through contracts. The only thing that has really changed is that there are more competitors in the market now.

debt 9y ago

I think outsourcing is precisely what we're doing; we're good at that. Spaceflight is easy, creating a nuclear battery might be easy too, maybe even something we can outsource, but it's the one thing we definitely do not want other countries working on.

adventured 9y ago

The entire subject of what you're talking about, is a non-issue. Five years ago it was barely a legitimate concern. It has no legitimacy at this point. The problem, isn't a problem, it's solved. See: Boeing and SpaceX. Add 8 to 12 months. Done. And just like that, NASA has access to superior human launch capabilities versus Russia and China. And that's before Blue Origin builds out its New Glenn monster. Russia will fall very far behind over the next five years, only China will be able to afford to keep up over time. SpaceX already passed Russia in launches this year. That's going to get a lot worse.