Another small step for man ...

[tedski]

The Mars Phoenix spacecraft is scheduled to land this evening in the northern pole regions on the red planet in the further pursuit of water and previous life. The Science Channel will have live coverage starting at 4pm PDT. Other local stations will probably have coverage just before the actual landing.

Other info at: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/present/phoenix.html

 

[Dougful]

sweet, I'll have to check that out tonight. Thanks for the heads-up.

 

[gbpacker66]

Not real big NASA fan. I do like the news that comes out every once in a while. But right now I think that it a huge waste of money, don't get me wrong. It's mans natural instinct to explore, and we have made some great advances with space exploration. Still I think NASA can cut costs tremendously, there is far to much waste. Billions of dollars in in the budget can be more wisely used for intelligent life here on Earth. How is the search for water, and ET going to help us in the next 10-20 years. I am sorry if I am going on a political rant, but people are sick and tired of government spending, and this is a good place to start. Bottom line is NASA needs to be revamped, they need to work on; safety, newer more efficient rockets, better program management, and some how cut down on the clutter of junk in orbit (what goes up must come down).

 

[TBone]

Thanks for the heads up.

 

[tedski]

I hear ya gb ... but there is waste in most everything the government does (I think it's one of the best things they do). Also, NASA's budget of $16 billion in 2007 was approx 0.006% of what the federal government spent last year.

IMO, if we spent as much on exploration (space and earth-based), pure science and research / development that we have fighting for and defending middle east oil resources over the past 20 years, we'd already be colonizing the moon, driving pollution-free + gas-free cars, have abundant power that is eco-friendly and terrorism / global warming would probably not be the driving forces in the world today.

 

[Altercall]

Not real big NASA fan. I do like the news that comes out every once in a while. But right now I think that it a huge waste of money, don't get me wrong. It's mans natural instinct to explore, and we have made some great advances with space exploration. Still I think NASA can cut costs tremendously, there is far to much waste. Billions of dollars in in the budget can be more wisely used for intelligent life here on Earth. How is the search for water, and ET going to help us in the next 10-20 years. I am sorry if I am going on a political rant, but people are sick and tired of government spending, and this is a good place to start. Bottom line is NASA needs to be revamped, they need to work on; safety, newer more efficient rockets, better program management, and some how cut down on the clutter of junk in orbit (what goes up must come down).

NASA has given us many of the innovations that we have seen in "space age" products and technology over the last 50 years. The problem is, we usually do not know it came from NASA until years later. I have no problem with us searching out those questions because it helps us to understand our own situation better. Looking at the Martian ice caps has helped us to understand that our temperature changes might not be an isolated problem (isolated meaning isolated to the Earth).

I'm all for cutting spending, but let's cut back in areas that are ripe with waste, mismanagement and malfeasance before we start cutting a program that directly feeds defense, intelligence, scientific advancements and business.

 

[dpricenator]

NASA has given us many of the innovations that we have seen in "space age" products and technology over the last 50 years. .

Velcro and Tang :grinFU: J/K no official opinion here. Makes for good movies

 

[Altercall]

Velcro and Tang :grinFU: J/K no official opinion here. Makes for good movies

My whole generation would be walking around shoeless and thirsty if we hadn't had those innovations!

 

[PetersCreek]

Not real big NASA fan.

I guess one problem with not being a big fan is that you don't really keep up with the things you complain about... :wink:

Still I think NASA can cut costs tremendously...

They have...to the bone. Back in the '70s, the Viking Mars lander program cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $3.5 billion...in 2008-equivalent dollars. Phoenix was developed in keeping with NASA's "Faster, Better, Cheaper" design philosophy at a cost of about $420 million, IIRC.

Bottom line is NASA needs to be revamped...

They have. Major upsets came after the Challenger and Columbia disasters...and they weren't pretty. Other more minor shake-ups have occurred along the way, too, such as after the loss of the Mars Polar Lander.

they need to work on; safety,

They have. See above.

newer more efficient rockets,

They have. The Deep Space 1 ion engine and the Ares I and V boosters come to mind.

better program management,

They have. It'd be pretty hard to do it "Faster, Better, Cheaper" without improved management.

and some how cut down on the clutter of junk in orbit (what goes up must come down).

They've been working on it and still are it seems. Debris mitigation policies and standards have been in place and evolving since 1988.

Yeah, I'm a fan of NASA. I admit it. :stretchgr