Re: Space exploration for the rest of us

jacob navia wrote:

Atelus wrote:

Sure there is no immediate return on your investment in human
exploration of space, but you cannot negate the fact that sending
humans to Mars, or space, would give us more information than a couple
of robots. The fact remains that in order for anyone to get to go to
space someone has to do it first and while robotics are a good start we
cannot understand the entire human factor without sending a human.

Do not get me wrong, I am an advocate for robotics research as well
but if you ever want to go from sitting in front of your computer to
space I suggest appreciating human space flight a bit more.


You want to send humans everywhere?

To Venus, with its 450 Celsius?

To Jupiter with its crushing gravity? A human would
be crushed dead in a few minutes by the huge gravity.

Same of Saturn.

How would you keep a human alive for long in Titan, with its -170 C ???

How would you get your human safely to Europe, crossing the deadly
radiation belts of Jupiter?


No one denies that. However, many places (the Moon, by demonstration) most certainly are human accessable. So is Mars. Indeed, I'd say that there are some asteroids and perhaps smaller planetary moons, where a manned spacecraft will be the *first* vehicle to land...


A robot is going to Pluto, another to Mercury, many are in Mars,
another, circling Saturn, ESA arrived to Venus.

And humans?

Even a short trip to earth orbit to repair the Hubble scope
is too risky for them.


Depends on just what humans you ask, and just what hardware they're flying.


Let's face it:

Human space exploration is more profitable for big hardware
companies that make big profit selling hardware to keep
humans alive in space.


And we're just beginning to see more competition in those areas. Few things drive costs down better than that.


Robots are more interesting for the real exploration of real
worlds. Not for Star War Enterprise fans...

jacob


Some things are done better remotely, some things, if you want them done right, you have to go and do them yourself.

And do try to get your SF universes straight...

--

Frank

You know what to remove to reply...

Check out my web page: http://www.geocities.com/stardolphin1/link2.htm

"To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit."
- Stephen Hawking
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Space travel by humans is not possible now
    ... jacob navia wrote: ... there is no need to spend money paying scientists to gather and ... Take for instance a mission like the Mars Rovers. ... This is a basic UNSOLVED problem. ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • Re: The Phoenix has landed!
    ... Exploring Mars is a public good. ... you want to stop paying taxes for such public goods, ... you know the reasons we go to Mars and the other planets. ... This is exploration at the edge of our territory. ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: The Phoenix has landed!
    ... Exploring Mars is a public good. ... you want to stop paying taxes for such public goods, ... you know the reasons we go to Mars and the other planets. ... And there is no doubt that this exploration will pay ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: Smart-1 Images of the Moon
    ... is why we have focused on Mars instead. ... The biggest challenge in space exploration is escaping the Earth's ... Moon as it does to get from Earth to Mars. ... require a sat that does not yet exist, adding to the costs. ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)
  • Re: Laying the Groundwork for Mars
    ... >leading, all along, to a manned mission to Mars. ... >such exploration, as existed in the case of the Moon after Sputnik. ...
    (sci.space.policy)