Manned Space Exploration...Why?

a reply to: blackcrowe

yes very true , however we are only certain of two things

Death and taxes!

and currently we are pretty much guaranteed that if an ELE happens we are doomed as a species

we have to get off earth otherwise its good night homosapiens

and given that our space agencies are never sure when an ELE will happen, they miss thousands of near earth objects all the time
and plenty of them could hit us !

then we have solar flares, xray gamma burst , many other space based events which can cause disaster on earth!



anyway Im sure the dinosaurs were off the same mind as you , and thought "isnt it comfy here on earth, we are totally safe here" Sadly the dinsosaurs never developed their space program

a reply to: TheRedneck

LOL...yeah, you're probably right!!

That's pretty funny!

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

"So when we look to the stars, as an escape; it is not to be. We can never go there. It is nothing more than a dream, a fantasy."

Manned controlled flight was a fantasy pretty much throughout the span of recorded history until the Wright brothers made it a reality.

Look at how much that travel medium has changed the world in only 115 years?

We have gone from a flight lasting 59 seconds over a distance of 852 feet to being able to circumnavigate the globe, hows that for progress!

Our hopes and dreams have taken us further than our feet ever will, that's a given, something is only impossible until it's not.

If we managed to devise a method of travel that circumvents relativity i imagine Humanity could colonize a substantial portion of our galaxy in less than 1000 years really.

a reply to: andy06shake

yeh and at the rate we breed!

we could fill that galaxy in that 1000 years

a reply to: sapien82

Which is why we need to get off this rock and on to greener pastures, we simply need the space and room to maneuver.

a reply to: andy06shake

If we managed to devise a method of travel that circumvents relativity...

Thank you...you've just proved my whole point!



ETA...If we could manage to develop a method of travel which circumvents that pesky gravity problem...

If we could manage to develop a method of travel which circumvents the time dilation problem...

If we could just manage to develop a method of travel which wasn't bound by that insanely difficult challenge of Energy equaling Mass times the Speed of Light squared (E=MC^2) ...

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Your point seems to be that we are all doomed within the next 50-100 years.

People have been claiming such throughout the span of recorded history and yet here we are still all kicking, screaming, and doing our thing.

My point is that Humanity has always adapted and overcome pretty much every and any obstacles that have been in our way, why should space-time be any different?

Mathematics suggests flt travel, just like time-travel, is theoretically possible given the correct circumstance, power and materials, just a thought.

originally posted by: andy06shake
a reply to: sapien82

Which is why we need to get off this rock and on to greener pastures, we simply need the space and room to maneuver.

To where? Mars.

That's a rock.

Also. It's smaller than earth.

a reply to: blackcrowe

And a much less welcoming rock than the Earth rock.

In order to do any of these things mankind is going to have to figure out how to develop a way to reduce the mass of the human being to zero. When this finally happens, how will you preserve things like knowledge, identity and emotion?

So that leaves...well...Mars.

a reply to: blackcrowe

To where?

What reason do you imagine we are discovering all these new planets around distant stars unless we also somehow envisage a means of travel to such at some future date?

The universe seems to promote the notion of infinite diversity in infinite combinations given the infinite nature of the beast in question, there are probably millions of habitable worlds located in our own galaxy alone.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Time will tell i suppose, personally, i hope I'm still around to see us at least colonize low Earth orbit.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

LOL. Exactly.

It's all sci-fi.

a reply to: andy06shake

Read the whole thread.

How do you know those planets are still there? Apart from in our own solar system. Which doesn't seem so habitable.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

"In order to do any of these things mankind is going to have to figure out how to develop a way to reduce the mass of the human being to zero."

If we manage to create a stable warp bubble(bend space-time around a ship), the mass inside would be unaffected thus rather a non-issue.

"When this finally happens, how will you preserve things like knowledge, identity and emotion?"

Digitally, just like we do in this day of age really.

a reply to: blackcrowe

"How do you know those planets are still there?"

If we ever gain the ability to tame space-time we will not just be able to go where ever we wish but whenever we wish.

"Apart from in our own solar system. Which doesn't seem so habitable."

Earth is habitable, Mars probably was in the past, Europa might even have life below all that ice.

Planets have a shelf life and life cycles like everything else including the stars.

a reply to: blackcrowe

Think of sci-fi as humanities to do list.

Today's science fiction, more often than not, generally turns out to be tomorrows scientific fact.

originally posted by: andy06shake
a reply to: blackcrowe

"How do you know those planets are still there?"

If we ever gain the ability to tame space-time we will not just be able to go where ever we wish but whenever we wish.

"Apart from in our own solar system. Which doesn't seem so habitable."

Earth is habitable, Mars probably was in the past, Europa might even have life below all that ice.

Planets have a shelf life and life cycles like everything else including the stars.

Firstly. You need to find a suitable planet. How? We search with telescopes. We see light from objects that is from the past. How do you know if the object is still there or even still exists at all?

If planets have a shelf life. Why ditch ours for another old clapped out planet?

There's no advantage.

a reply to: blackcrowe

"Firstly. You need to find a suitable planet. How? We search with telescopes. We see light from objects that is from the past. How do you know if the object is still there or even still exists at all?"

Observation and meticulous recording of the statistics is how we know they are there, to begin with, we noticed the distant stars wobble which suggested planetary bodies around said stars.

Again if we master space-time we will be able to travel whenever we wish, we would simply send probes that are not limited via relativity.

"If planets have a shelf life. Why ditch ours for another old clapped out planet?"

Because ours is getting old also, and, rather full and low on resources.

Stands to reason that we should expand else stagnant and die just like the dinosaurs did.

"There's no advantage."

Survival of our species is a distinct advantage is it not?

Keeping all our eggs in the one basket, that's what there is no advantage too.

a reply to: andy06shake

We'll just have to disagree.