In celebration of the 40 year anniversary

[Yoga Face]

I asked Carl Sagan, when he gave answers after a lecture, what he thought of the moon landing.

He thought it was a ridiculous waste of scientific minds and social monies.

Nothing was learned.

He said we advanced the computer as a result but you do not have to fly to the moon to do that !

He also said Teflon was not a by product of the moon race but invented in the thirties.



The whole thing was political to beat the Russians, IMHO, but why was that important?

We should have spent that scientific genius on the humanities IMHO.


1 Could we have stopped Global Warming at its inception?

2 Could we have solved desalinization ?

3 Want to find new life forms? Visit the ocean bottom!

ETC, ETC, ETC

 

[tboy]

He has a point but a LOT of things we in the west do are for strictly political reasons.

The trip to the moon was like climbing mount everest: we did it because it is there. I think something like the moon landing got people interested in space again. Just like building the space station, shuttle, etc. When things become routine people lose interest and in the west, we have to have the public interested in something.

If this was a dictatorship then we would only have to do what needs to be done.

Why did we need to beat the russians? To prove to the world that democracy was "better" then communism. It was only a matter of time before communism died in russia but I feel that that is because of the western influences. If just left to flourish then it might have propagated to a lot more countries than it did.

 

[JEFF247]

This is from wikepedia (not the center of intelligent life, but they summed it up pretty good):

"The Apollo program, specifically the lunar landings, is often cited as the greatest technological achievement in human history."

It's certainly right up there. I am biased, my father worked on the Apollo program. Maybe we learned we don't need to go to the moon, but it certainly taught us a lot about space and how it can benefit the planet. I give the space program a big thumbs up.

Carl Sagan taught at Cornell which is a few miles from my home. He did a lot for the space program and I and greatful for that.

 

[danmand]

Carl Sagan taught at Cornell which is a few miles from my home. He did a lot for the space program and I and greatful for that.

I believe that Carl Sagan had the view that MANNED space exploration is a waste of ressources.

 

[Yoga Face]

"The Apollo program, specifically the lunar landings, is often cited as the greatest technological achievement in human history."

Agreed

Maybe we learned we don't need to go to the moon, but it certainly taught us a lot about space and how it can benefit the planet.

How has space benefited us in any way that can be contributed to the moon landing ?

Seems to me it slowed us down.

If we had concentrated on satellite development they would have happened quicker, for example

If we had concentrated on computer technology it would have happened quicker

What gains occurred because, and only because, we (well, you guys did, we watched ) went to the moon?

I went to Cape Canaveral and they have the last Apollo on display. It never flew because no one cared. After the first couple of landings the public would rather watch Johny Carson.

 

[JEFF247]

SOOOOOO what's you point?

I believe that Carl Sagan had the view that MANNED space exploration is a waste of ressources.

He liked unmanned and lost. He still made space interesting for many, including myself, no matter how you wanted to get there. Wasted resources or not.

 

[JEFF247]

We're all not geniuses like Carl Sagan. Some of need the school of hard knocks to drive the point home. Histories full of us slow learners.

 

[Yoga Face]

I believe that Carl Sagan had the view that MANNED space exploration is a waste of resources.

I talked to him and he certainly was not against space exploration but you are correct in that he questioned the allocation of resources.

His big thing was SETI or the search for ET

His lecture was about the possibilities of it being out there.

he was a firm believer that it is but "where is it ?" was my second follow up question to him (even though we were only allowed one )

ET had billions of years head start before we evolved so where are they?

His reply was :

" absence of evidence is not evidence of absence "

rather pithy

 

[tboy]

Not to turn this into an ET or Not ET thread:

Evidence based on what? Our "concept" of life? Based on our understanding of life? (meaning carbon based that breathes air and requires water).

They have recently found life living in a highly toxic/acidic environment at the bottom of the ocean around volcanic vents. They are basically venting sufuric acid and they find creatues living in the acid.

 

[WinterHawk]

It encouraged scientific thought, engineering that would have otherwise been never developed. Had Vietnam not been happening, who knows if NASA would have had the means to continue and go to the next step of creating a Moon Base, or encouraging us to to go Mars?

For anyone who says "why spend your money on space" when you can spend it here. Well, YOU ARE SPENDING YOUR MONEY HERE!!! I would rather have a massive demand for Engineers, Programmers, Machinests, etc.. than hand the money over to social programs that encourage people to sit on their ass.

WE NEED A CHALLENGE, and going to Mars is the next step.

 

[Brill]

Why not have Engineers, Programmers, Machinests, etc. solving problems on Earth?

 

[WinterHawk]

We already do. Who's to say that exploring outer space, or having a space station around Earth, won't indirectly assist those engineers, programmers, and machinists to solve problems on Earth?

Solar Cells, Recycling, Hydrogen Full Cells, clean power sources, zero G manufacturing, medices, etc...

Man is at his best when he strives for the stars, deams impossible dreams. What could possibly move us more than going to the stars? The same driving spirt that found the America's in 1492. Or the Spirt of St. Louis. Pushing forward into that great unknown benefits us all.

The only time we have seen such a leap in technology has been during the 2 world wars... I for one don't want to see another great leap fueled by death and despariation. Do you?

 

[GotGusto]

We already do. Who's to say that exploring outer space, or having a space station around Earth, won't indirectly assist those engineers, programmers, and machinists to solve problems on Earth?

my thoughts exactly

 

[Rockslinger]

Man is at his best when he strives for the stars, deams impossible dreams. What could possibly move us more than going to the stars?

It is man's manifest destiny to explore the unknown. Otherwise, we would all still be living in caves.

Saw a debate on CNN this weekend on how money spent exploring outer space could be better spent on feeding the poor. Using this logic we would never spend money on anything else except feeding the poor because the more poor you feed the more the poor will reproduce more poors (wait a second, that sounds kind of harsh ).

Anyway, maybe the $100 billion a year North Americans spend on pet food and watering their green grass lawns could be better spent feeding the poor.

 

[Big Rig]

In JFK's peace speech at American University, he used the example of space exploration as a unifying endeavour by the superpowers to promote peaceful co-existence and to sway them from the perilous path of nuclear armageddon.

What a dreamer !!!!!!!

Reason number one to not go into space:

We use space to kill.

Ever hear of the "Star Wars" project?

 

[SkyRider]

We use space to kill.

So far, this has not been the case. No hostile action in space, only Russians and Americans working together peacfully. Anyway, the most use of space so far is communications.

 

[Big Rig]

They have recently found life living in a highly toxic/acidic environment at the bottom of the ocean around volcanic vents. They are basically venting sufuric acid and they find creatues living in the acid.

If life is surphur based does that mean it can't be intelligent ?

 

[Big Rig]

So far, this has not been the case. No hostile action in space, only Russians and Americans working together peacfully. Anyway, the most use of space so far is communications.

Spy satellites?

 

[Moraff]

Spy satellites?

Arguably spy satellites help keep the peace because people are less likely to start getting ready to fight if they're going to be caught at it.

 

[Cinema Face]

The Apollo moon mission was the right thing to do, done for the wrong reasons.

I agree that it was a political decision and not a scientific one. It was also done too soon and luckily they didn't lose anyone out in space. It was shit luck that it went as well as it did.

I think Neal Armstrong said that every mission was a near dissaster.

That being said, I don't fault the decision makers. I'm glad they had to guts to do something so extraordinary.