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Originally posted by cloudyday
I can't help wishing NASA would stop spending money on the manned space program. The novelty of humans in space is mostly gone after 50 years. A computer animation of an unmanned probe like Curiosity is probably more inspiring than a clip of one more astronaut floating around in zero gravity. Or if NASA is serious about a manned space program they should be researching ways for the astronauts to hibernate so they can go somewhere interesting.
Sorry I guess this is just a rant.edit on 6-12-2011 by cloudyday because: (no reason given)
Originally posted by DJW001
NASA's participation in the ISS is more diplomatic than it is scientific. The move towards the privatization of near Earth orbit operations is appropriate at this time. NASA's manned program needs to focus on deep space exploration, beginning with the development of suitable reusable space operations only craft. This would best be done with international co-operation.edit on 6-12-2011 by DJW001 because: (no reason given)
But what is the justification for sending humans to a near earth asteroid for example? How much is that SLS rocket going to cost compared to the unmanned missions? And that is only for the rocket - not for the rest of the expense of going to an asteroid. We could probably return samples from Mars several times for the price of one manned mission to one asteroid. In the early 60's manned exploration was hard to justify but now it is just silly.
Originally posted by DJW001
reply to post by cloudyday
But what is the justification for sending humans to a near earth asteroid for example? How much is that SLS rocket going to cost compared to the unmanned missions? And that is only for the rocket - not for the rest of the expense of going to an asteroid. We could probably return samples from Mars several times for the price of one manned mission to one asteroid. In the early 60's manned exploration was hard to justify but now it is just silly.
We need to know how tightly packed asteroids are in the event we need to change one's course. In fact, if we need to deflect or destroy one, it would help if humans were actually present at the site of the operations. Human beings have a huge advantage over robotic probes for a very simple reason. Machines can explore the surface of another world systematically enough, but they are incapable of thinking: "Hey! What's that moving shadow over there? I'm going to go and have a look behind that rock!"