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I guess these are nations that have something to prove in this area, especially China and India. Putting a man on Mars will certainly confirm you to the general

I guess these are nations that have something to prove in this area, especially China and India. Putting a man on Mars will certainly confirm you to the general world population as a "real" new dominant power.

joezydeco 17y ago
Or confirm you as a nation that puts an expensive, small return mission as priority over more pressing internal problems?
- fjabre 17y ago
  As long as we continue to be human we will always have 'internal' problems. The big picture is that Earth is a single point of failure and the clock is ticking away. Mars should be a higher priority but I don't expect the government to solve it. They've grown too big and dumb for that it seems. This hopefully will be tackled by more visionaries like Buzz Aldrin, Elon Musk, and Burt Rutan...
- gtt 17y ago
  Internal problems always will be. By this logic we should cancel almost all pure research projects.
  - fjabre 17y ago
    How do you figure? If anything space exploration is research intensive. We have done a lot of research in space and even on the ground before we got there. I'm curious as to what you mean by pure research.
    - jibiki 17y ago
      I don't understand your comment. You're saying that certain research should take priority over solving internal problems, but space exploration shouldn't...? Why?
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      - deleted 17y ago
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      - billswift 17y ago
        Humans in space efforts have nothing to do with research. They are now purely national prestige efforts. And I am extremely pro-space, I just don't think current efforts are doing ANYTHING AT ALL about getting us there permanently.
    - fjabre 17y ago
      I'm saying that it should be more of a priority amongst the general public. I didn't say it should take priority over other forms of research. =)
  - joezydeco 17y ago
    From a UN Report: "More than 700 million Indians, or roughly two-thirds of the population, do not have adequate sanitation. Largely for lack of clean water, 2.1 million children under the age of 5 die each year" My point is: shouldn't a country like India put their research and money toward solving THESE problems instead of putting a man on Mars?

joezydeco 17y ago

Or confirm you as a nation that puts an expensive, small return mission as priority over more pressing internal problems?

fjabre 17y ago
As long as we continue to be human we will always have 'internal' problems. The big picture is that Earth is a single point of failure and the clock is ticking away. Mars should be a higher priority but I don't expect the government to solve it. They've grown too big and dumb for that it seems. This hopefully will be tackled by more visionaries like Buzz Aldrin, Elon Musk, and Burt Rutan...
gtt 17y ago
Internal problems always will be. By this logic we should cancel almost all pure research projects.
- fjabre 17y ago
  How do you figure? If anything space exploration is research intensive. We have done a lot of research in space and even on the ground before we got there. I'm curious as to what you mean by pure research.
  - jibiki 17y ago
    I don't understand your comment. You're saying that certain research should take priority over solving internal problems, but space exploration shouldn't...? Why?
    - deleted 17y ago
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    - deleted 17y ago
      [deleted]
    - billswift 17y ago
      Humans in space efforts have nothing to do with research. They are now purely national prestige efforts. And I am extremely pro-space, I just don't think current efforts are doing ANYTHING AT ALL about getting us there permanently.
  - fjabre 17y ago
    I'm saying that it should be more of a priority amongst the general public. I didn't say it should take priority over other forms of research. =)
- joezydeco 17y ago
  From a UN Report: "More than 700 million Indians, or roughly two-thirds of the population, do not have adequate sanitation. Largely for lack of clean water, 2.1 million children under the age of 5 die each year" My point is: shouldn't a country like India put their research and money toward solving THESE problems instead of putting a man on Mars?