NASA: Longest space mission for U.S. astronaut set for 2015
By Elizabeth Landau, CNN
Capt. Scott Kelly, a veteran astronaut, will set the record for the longest single space mission for an American, NASA announced Monday. Kelly and Roscosmos cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko will embark on a one-year mission to the International Space Station in 2015.
The duo will help scientists explore the effects of living in space on the human body, NASA said. They will provide information regarding health and crew performance and help with determining and validating risk-reduction measures. All of this can help contribute to planning for missions to other celestial worlds, such as an asteroid or Mars.
Kelly is the brother of former space shuttle Cmdr. Mark Kelly, who is married to former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Giffords survived a shooting near Tuscon in 2011 and stepped down from public office in January 2012.
Only four humans have logged a continuous year or more in space on a single mission, and all of those missions involved the Russian Mir space station, said NASA spokesman Joshua Buck. The current record is held by Valery Polyakov, who spent 438 days in space between January 1994 and March 1995.
Kelly and Kornienko will depart in spring 2015 from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, traveling aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
A native of Orange, New Jersey, Kelly has already experienced more than 180 days in space. On a 1999 space shuttle mission, he was a pilot; in 2007, he was a commander on STS-118. Kelly was a flight engineer in 2010 on International Space Station Expedition 25 and commander of Expedition 26 in 2011.
Kelly is a U.S. Navy captain with degrees from the State University of New York Maritime College and the University of Tennessee.
Kornienko hails from Russia's Syzran, Kuibyshev, region and has worked in the space industry since 1986. On the International Space Station, Kornienko was a flight engineer on the Expedition 23/24 crews in 2010. He has spent a cumulative 176 days in space.
"The one-year increment will expand the bounds of how we live and work in space and will increase our knowledge regarding the effects of microgravity on humans as we prepare for future missions beyond low-Earth orbit," William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for human exploration and operations at NASA headquarters in Washington, said in a statement.
Jim Ribble interviewed Kelly for CNN Radio while the astronaut was aboard the International Space Station in 2010. Check out their conversation here:
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Why spend billions on leaving a planet we can not afford to fix just to destrroy another when we arrive.
If we can not solve our problems on Earth we are just running from the inevitable. Is it human to invest elseware when
we have not solved all human problems on Earth ?.
Well my name is Alex espinal and I'm from Honduras and I discovery two aliens and I talk to them I know what they say and they tell they believe on god I give you guys one secret. 3 start on egypt and one city on Honduras called white city go there and say at 12:10 at night you go to see one star go up to montuain and look down of the land and them go to Jerusalen there's a grail why UFO thinks they know more evidence on a different government all I can say I believe on god and pray everyday cause on 2444 there go to be a war but not a normal war find this mean look pluton and look the moon and them look the sun and them look down to Miami there's all the story in triangle of vermudes
Please tell us why NASA is being funded after abandoning and continuing to abandon the scientific method for human space exploration? Any mice hungry for green cheese? What about astronouts stuck 200 miles up in the ISS; Our atmosphere goes out 100,000 miles out above sea level. We send probes everywhere; Not mice, canines nor anything that confirms we are using the scientific method to colonise outer space. We never landed on the moon with people, pets nor even a mouse that might like green cheese. Research Layka, Luna 24 and why the ISS is only ~200 miles above sea level, while Earth's atmosphere extends for 100,000 miles above the sea. Cold war propaganda had a reason then; What about us today?
Developing artificial gravity would lessen the body damage. Work that one out and some of the major issues associated with long duration space flight go away. Radiation on the other hand is very serious as that effects the cells themselves and can cause death. Exposure to the vacuum of space scares me enough to not to want to go. Food, water and air. We all need them and that will cost so much to bring with you. Growing food has been proven to be the best way to eat. Emergencies such a illness, accidents and equipment malfunctions where would the spare parts adds cost as well. Take up two identical vehicles and use one as a life boat in the event something goes wrong.
Let's get real, folks. We should invest in robotics, which is NOW, and then replace the bio based species with more efficient robots, and space travel will be a piece of cake.
Of course, we have to sacrifice our lives for it. . .
Lets see who lands on pluto first
i think going to MARS is a big advancement for the AMERICANS LONG OVERDUE THERE ARE THINGS WAITING TO BE DISCOVERED BY US!
WHEEL'S OFF YOUR TRAILOR YOUR NUTS
I just pray that God will gide us.:-(
funny that people can talk to a man made god, yet cant spell simple words.....SMH
I do not consider my self weak minded. I go to mass five times a week. While on the Apollo Moon project I computed
Apollo flights 48 hours a week, one year straight. I would not consider that weak minded. Saying that religion
is for the weak minded is very stupid.
So very true. Pastors even refer too their minions as a flock. That is what you call a heard of sheep.
I 'heard' you're super clever. Not a part of that 'herd'. Quiet atheist sheeple....shush.
ISLAMIC DATE LINE to draw from holly macca to bring the islamic date and day same all over the world and bring the macca new center of the earth wich is the real center of the glob capt syed abid hussain
Nice stroll down memory lane but picture 10 is wrong. Apollo held 3 and Soyus held 3, picture shows 10.
They did each hold three, but only two cosmonauts flew on this particular mission.
hey its okay to do something more than once if we didn't we would never know if it was actually doing what it was suppose to do. who knows maybe something different will happen, maybe not, we don't know unless we try. its better to be 100% right and had test it 50 times then test it once and someone getting killed cause something did go wrong.
I'll bet he's over the moon about this.
"Kelly is the brother of former space shuttle Cmdr. Mark Kelly, who is married to former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords".
Amazing what knowing the right people will do for you.
Even more amazing, since Mark followed his big brother into the space program before he met the future Representative Giffords. Must be some o' that retroactive nepotism.
You're wrong this time. Mark Kelly and Scott Kelly were both former Naval officers and experienced astronauts. Mark Kelly didn't marry Rep. Giffords unitl 2007, long after their careers were established and they had both already flown for NASA. Don't be so cynical, especially when you don't know the facts.
Congratulations on winning the "Most Uninformed & Stupidest Comment on this Thread"award.
Dear CNN, on the homepage it says "Astronaut to spend year in obit". You might consider adding an "r" in there.
I was going to comment on the same thing
How about his wife Gabrielle Giffords? Who is going to take care of her and be her soul mate?
That's Mark Kelly, Scott's brother. Mark retired from NASA last year after Gabby was shot. Scott is the one going up in space.
You mean besides the fact that it's Gabrielle Giffords' brother in law that's going on the station and not her husband?
Perhaps you should spend less time trying to think of lame comments to post and more time on your reading comprehension skills.
What about all the Russian research on long term space exposure, why are we reinventing the wheel the Russians have had people spend years in space already isn't that good enough. Anything to keep from doing real exploration.
LOL using this reasoning....why do anything if someone does it first?
These International Fake Station fakes are becoming quite monotonous. NASA and the Russians need to learn from their good 'ol days of fakery when they coordinated the 'space race' climaxing to the fake moon landing. Indeed, those tricks were superb and we all swallowed the bait. Since NASA is losing PR ratings, they need to coordinate another lunar landing, except this time involve the Chinese. Here's the synopsis: China 'lands' on the moon, has some technical difficulty, and NASA sends a team to rescue the stranded astros (keep in mind they will actually be safe and sound in the desert). On the way home, the Chinese could air a message home and say "NASA fake us home" and then they could dump the 'space capsule' from a cargo plane. After keeping the world on pens and needles, NASA would again become worldwide heros.....
The above comment is a great example of sophisticated reasoning gone wild...
Nay, the above comment is very close to the truth because what NASA and the Soviets 'discovered' in 1949, and following 1958, is highly classified info but I'll give you a hint – hypersonic velocity = vaporization upon descent into the upper atmosphere, i.e. a meteor. I'll let you put the rest of the story together....
The moon landing was not a fake.Why is there pictures of steps on the moon?
Hey Buck, that's why there are retro rockets on spacecraft, to slow down the speed and heat shields to protect them from high temperature. You may want to consider a little research in areas that are not devoted to conspiracy theory.
You do know you can buy a cheap telescope at Walmart and see the International Space Station very clearly, right? If everything that happened in space is fake ole Bucky boy here must be fake too. Prove to me you exist Buck and just like you I will not accept visual, audio, physical or witness accounts of your existence.
What is it like in your little fantasy world Bucky?
Indeed, NASA has created a 'wal-mart' of spaceflight followers with their fakery. Of course you can see the 'ISS' remote controlled satellite with a telescope. That's the beauty of their con, you can 'see' the blast-off, you can 'see' the orbiting vessels, and no doubt you can 'see' a space capsule float gently after braking via parachute from hypersonic 17,000 clicks to, oh, 150 for a safe 'spashdown'.....
Now how are things in your world of dupedom?
Bucky thinks that Wal-Mart is in on the conspiracy and paints ISS-appearing objects on every telescope.
.
I'd rather see the jerk in the White House on the ISS for much, much longer than a year.
Dont even need a telescope. You can see it with the naked eye. I observed the space shuttle docked to the ISS with binoculars purchased at...yes Walmart. Check the website "heavens above" for days and times the ISS passes over you. Brad Miller, Physics teacher, Spotsylvania HS. Master of Physics UVa
You know I Directed...(Locally)...the Old Art Bell Show for 8 years. All I can say about "Your Type," is it's sad that you are suffering from an extreme case of "Bellism."
When I see posts like this, and they come from trolls in every forum, I try to decide whether you're joking or are really that deluded.
I am a psychiatrist by profession. I can see that, while growing up, your father was either amiss or a complete liar. Your mother was probably another liar and now you sense a lie in everything and see it as an aggression you will not stand for. You probably get home from grocery shopping to check with a large graduated cylinder if indeed the gallon of milk you bought is a complete gallon because you assume everyone to be a cheater. Is not uncommon for men like you to assume your wife to have cheated multiple times and therefore give her the treatment a serial cheater deserves. In short your character has degenerated into that of a monster and you seek to uncover he/she who lies with a hysterical zeal that is wreaking your life and that of those around you.
If that's true, why haven't we heard from the "meteorite people"?
Does anyone know of a way to voluntarily contribute more money to the space program than what they take out via taxes?
How about a bake sale. I am sure that many of the people who work in the aeronautics industry are half-baked. I was.
No, I'm kidding... I was totally baked.
You could invest in one of the many new private launch companies like SpaceX or scaled composites(virgin galactic).
Props to the astronauts who willingly entered this mission. One of the most expected results is rapid loss of bone density compared to a Earth-dwelling person.
i agree!
Same here... how idiotic of these editors... I have to say that the advent of online news has dumbed down the editorial responsibility of the press.
so, you understood the article right? Get over it.
Yeah, who needs all that correct grammar, spelling and punctuation anyway. Certainly not the people who are claiming to be journalists.
A bit of advice for planning long durations in space: NASA should consider an amputee, such as Tammy Duckworth (a courageous helicopter pilot) as legs in low gravity are more than useless, they are in the way, atrophy and are prone to edema. Also, have the astronauts get a colostomy. I have one and it sure beats using the crapper. The colostomy has residual BOD that can be used to generate power and operate autonomous systems in a personal environment suit. There is probably no one better suited for the stresses of space than someone who has endured the challenges of the loss of limb and the diminsihed function of a colon (ignore PTSD). I have these changes among many others and it is difficult but not overwhelming as I live alone and without any assistance as a paraplegic. This is just an opinion, but NASA should look outside the box as it tries to make a good "fit" for long duration space flights. Nobody is better suited for landing a craft on a distant planet of low gravity than a former chopper pilot with no legs. Then again, why are we going there at all? Life already exists on Mars: it's us. Also, don't eat yellow snow.
Can human beigns suvive out side the earth planet without God's power?
We live without it here on earth so it would stand to reason we could do it in space.
Ha! Love it!
Why would you think the person leaving earth would be without God's power?
When are they going to build the spinning. space stations of sci fi lore? Zero G is totally unnecessary for long voyages, when they can spin a torus like they did on the spaceship in 2001.
We need to practice generating centrifugal type artificial gravity in space. I do not think astronauts or space tourists will be travelling for longmonths at a time without artificial gravity.
So lets not waste time on zero G. We should be experimenting with 1/3 g (Mars) or 1/2 g if a full g is still too stressful for current designs. That would prepare us for long missions better, once we venture out.
I totally agree and have been saying this as one of 2 requirements for very long space travel design requirements.
The second being that any long travel to another planet will likely require a lot of humans travelling together in order to establish a 'first settlement' quickly.
Therefore, working on tiny ships is nice, but we need to start thinking of building vast and big ships that can carry city loads of people for dozens of years at a time and at speeds much higher than today.
We Need A Prometheus.....
Much of the research being conducted on the ISS requires microgravity. That's why it can't be done on Earth.
Because the space station would have to be on the order of 2mi in diameter in order to get an angular velocity that is realistic so that we can generate close to 10m/s/s acceleration.
Yet another waste of taxpayer money as NASA creates yet another project to sustain its jobs and retirement programs.
so.. how else do you suggest we explore as a species? we are explorers.. we go places, we try things. THAT is what makes us great, and it's not an easy task. Be happy about it
There are people who feel exploration is worthless. You can't convince them that it's the only way for us to grow as a species.
Your lack of enthusiasm for exploring the Cosmos is disgusting.
1 yr in the space station is not exploring....
Yet another idiot who doesn't understand how tax money is distributed. Your tax contribution to Nasa especially now is probably less than what you pay for a value meal at a fast food joint. Americans spend more on Pet Food by a factor way beyond what is spent on the Nasa programs. You want waste of money? How about a billions of dollars on a fighter jet that doesn't even work very well to fight against a non-existent enemy. Or trillions of dollars fighting a war that is not our own and in the end doesn't even benefit our country but only the pockets of unknown billionaires who supply the ammo and bandages. YEAH, Nasa is a real waste of money. Right, it's not like any technology that was useful was made by Nasa right?
Couldn't help by notice that you are an Earthbound being. Too bad for you.
How sad it must be to be truly ignorant in the value of science to mankind. I pity you.
I truly believe that the future of the human race is in Space. We eventually will find a way to master mining in the Moon for minerals that can help us become energy independent, or create a new product that can make life better , even new procedures and cures for decease here on Earth. Don’t pay attention to those narrow minded people on the right that are not able to accept the simple realities of truth and progress. God speed.
Copied from your comment.....
"even new procedures and cures for decease here on Earth."
Now we are able to cure death.
Go have another shot of Jack Daniels retard.
Hey! I'm "on the right" and a preacher in the Church of Christ, and I've always believed even stopping Apollo was a huge mistake that set us back 40 years in science. We should've been on Mars by now (with a permanent colony there and on the Moon) readying to go to Europa...Too many discoveries that directly benefit too many people on this mudball have come from the research and the technologies that have been invented and used in the space program.
@kotchi Did he say cure death? NASA has already advanced technnology that has been used in the medical field amongst many other industries. Look up NASA spin-off technologies and educate yourself before you start calling other people retards.
NASA's entire operating budget for the last 56 years COMBINED is still LESS than what the US Govt will spend on defense just in year 2012. Your argument is invalid.
nice try. why don't you adjust 1960's budgets to today
So when is Newt Gingrich moving to the moon?
Notice how the article says the first American to spend more than a year in space; I have seen in this space people taking issue with first this or that – such as first woman, or first person of color to achieve something. The fact that there is no furore this time around suggests to me that there actually is merit in classifying this space adventure this way. Can we say then that the hullabaloo created in other contexts is totally manufactured – or worse it could be actual resentment.
Mugony- you make a good point. It apparently is not good enough that the Russians have had people in space for much longer periods of time. Somehow our studies will discover something new. NASA does the same old things and expects different results – the difinition of insanity.
Incidentally; CNN is still showing Suni Williams and her Expedition 32 crew as still being on-orbit: they landed on November 19th.
Picture 10 is incorrect – that is NOT the first U.S./Russian joint mission from 1975 but the SECOND one from 1995: Shuttle 'Atlantis' STS-71 docked with the Russian space station 'Mir'.
I had a good laugh when I saw that one too... wondering how they squeezed all those people into an Apollo and Soyuz capsules 🙂
At the rate our population is increasing and resources dwindling!! I say this is necessary to find more real-estate!!
I wish we could just take a bunch of Teabaggers and blast them off into outer space.
But what did out of space do to deserve the curse of tea baggers?
Jacon – I agree and there is already too much space junk.
Bucks = Buck Rogers. Mars plan please.
Can we stop pretending we're still discovering anything in Earth orbit and get to the next order of business?
Actually this IS something we should have been doing in orbit 4 years ago. I am glad we are moving forward with endurance testing that is scientific and well-planned. Further exploration of our solar system is hindered by bone and muscle loss, and the effects of radiation. We can't test the radiation methods in LEO, but we CAN test for better ways to prevent bone loss. This is imperative. We are limited to the moon and Earth until we overcome some of these basic challenges. We can not solve them "on the way" because any destination we reach will require the explorers to recover for a period in a gravity well before they can DO anything. These are wasted days.
LEO is not the end destination, but it still has plenty to teach us.
kamakiriad – it is a waste....
A destination of true importance will probably require their decendants to be around for it. And that doesn't mean it's not worth trying. I'm happy smart people are thinking about it.
Several thousand of my best friends live within a couple of hundred feet of the reactors that power their vessels. I've worn the little film badge that records your exposure. We know how to simulate gravity. None of these things are insurmountable.
You sound very well informed, maybe I have watched too much sci-fi, but I thought you could spin a good sized structure and create artificial gravity. Haven't worked in the industry unless Naval Aviation counts, but my BS degree is Aerospace.
With all due respect to Capt. Kelly, I think it's time to skip the charade about making additional significant discoveries in Earth orbit and get on to the next obvious step.
I undestand that when they het back, their bones will go to osteoporosis and their eyes will fail.
Based on what evidence?
According to CNN Peple in Space, Suni Williams is still up there?
Heres what they should and the million $$ question? Why dont they go put a new foot print and flag on the moon? After all if they have done it before now would be the time to prove they have been to moon. After all it would be safer an all with tec. Now Right? Nasa prove it by example and go to moon again? The world is waiting!
Crazyman – we DID land on the moon. We have nothing to prove. Our footprints are STILL there. Better to challenge others to go look at them.
Because we have advanced past rubber bands and paper clips like they had in the 60's.
Muscle tissue and bones are wasting away in zero gravity due to lack of exercise. This is one of the biggest problems facing astronauts if they embark on a mission of several years. Several years in space could make one basically a cripple.
There is no bigger critic of NASA than I but you critics of the whole idea of space exploration are complete, total, utter MORONS! DOUBLE FAIL!!! Humans explore- we grow, we expand, we figure out how to do it better, cheaper, faster. Please try (I know it is hard, I really do) please try to THINK.
I wonder how many of the critics even know they are posting on the internet on transistors developed for the Apollo missions? Understanding the universe is a big waste of time and money? Money better spent on what? Free condoms, free abortions, and state funded birth control? More childhood obesity programs? More childhood hunger programs?
Gee that sounds so much more cool than stupid things like EXPLORING THE GALAXY........
If we had given the ENTIRE $1,000,000,000,000.00 SO CALLED STIMULUS BILL TO NASA WE WOULD HAVE A BASE ON BOTH THE MOON AND MARS- AND WE WOULD HAVE CREATED 5 X's AS MANY JOBS- MANY OF THEM PERMANENT.
Ohhh mighty poh-bah professor of ultimate wisdom.....
I completely sympathize with your view! Humans need to know things, and the universe isn't sitting there just to "look pretty". Inhabiting other planets in space has many benefits, and disadvantages, but our overall knowledge of the unknown itself is lacking. Still, the money not going to NASA may not be cool, but it is necessary.
And oh so wrong.... you think the transistor was developed for NASA or it's programs? They were invented and developed in the early 1950's – before Sputnik and NASA was NASA. Miniaturization in the form of ICs was driven by military need and found useful by NASA – but NASA didn't make all that happen – private industry did.
What about the effects of not getting healthcare on the human body? Right now, Congress is trying to cut Medicare and Medicaid and Obamacare because, they say, we can't afford it, that healing sick and suffering people and saving their lives is busting the budget and sinking us in debt that will destroy jobs and businesses. I don't buy it and I won't accept the cuts. Not when NASA is already planning another mission of this magnitude costing untold billions of dollars.
Annie L. A beautiful response – I love it.
How about we get the money for space exploration *AND* healthcare from the $300 million-a-day they're blowing in Afghanistan? You do realize that equates to about one Mars Misson ***A WEEK*** being spent on a war for what???
OIL
NASA's budget is a tiny portion of our budget. If you ended NASA and moved their budget to other programs, you would only add 16 billion a year. We spend more 10 days of war in Afghanistan. We spend more than that on tax breaks for GE an the oil industry. Leave NASA's budget alone and stop saying ignorant things. NASA's budget has helped develop better yielding wheat, transistors, treatment for hypothermia, food preservation, weather prediction, efficient and lower-polluting commercial aircraft, and countless other technological breakthroughs you take for granted. One could argue that the best return our society gets on it's investment is the NASA program. Transistors, cellular phones, wi-fi, computers, all are products of NASA research.
If you really want to make a dent, cut some of the wasteful $500 billion SPENT ON THE MILITARY EVERY YEAR, WHICH IS MORE THAN THE NEXT 20 NATIONS COMBINED!
Useless waste of time and money. Am sick of this really.
How's that $300Million-a-day doing in Afghanistan Mr. (points-and-laughs) GO_GOP (laughs some more)??? Sick of that, yet?
Yet you are OK with spending billions on a bloated military to crusade in other nations we don't belong and you are/were OK with the billions wasted giving tax breaks to the uber-wealthy when they didn't need it. Yeah, I am disgusted your political views think it is OK for me to pay a higher tax break than some trust-fund baby that hasn't worked a day in his life. NASA employs people. They WORK for their dollars and produce something useful. You and your opinions disgust me.
Picture frame 10 is in error with the caption. The Apollo/Soyuz project from 1975 involved 3 astronauts and 2 cosmonauts. The Apollo mission commander was Deke Slayton. What is depicted in this CNN article picture is an international space station crew probably some 25-30 years later.
Right about Apollo/Soyuz. Wrong about Slayton.
Tom Stafford was Apollo commander. Slayton was part of the crew.
This is a huge waste of time and money, just like most of NASA's activities. There may have been some useful discoveries along the way, but they don't justify the huge expense, the waste of enormous resources, or the contribution rockets have made and are making to global warming.
What if your soccer kids grew up to be engineers or scientists and wanted to work for NASA?
I would tell them to use their education and intelligence to do something to improve the lives of people on Earth.
Kris – lots of people have invested a fortune in an aerospace degree. That same knowledge can be used to build an excellent Earth-based sewage plant. Would also work for higher efficiency automobiles, aircraft, and power generation plants. How about water purification, and food production. Nah – not high tech enough I guess – but this is what we humans REALLY need right now. Too many "heads in the clouds" (or space) and not enough on the ground.
So, you're going to tell your kids what to do when they grow up too. What if experiments like this do help people on Earth? Most of our common cures came from places that needed explored. We are all taught at a young age to do something we love. People like NASA employ thousands that actually listened to that. Tell their soccer kids that Mommy or Daddy isn't doing anything to help mankind.
Bill- I agree, with all that. But, there are over seven billion people on this planet, we can't all do the same thing.
Not knocking the degree or the advancement of science – this is very important. And all the noise is probably unnecessary as private industry is assuming the role that NASA once had. Private industry will waste LESS money on these go-nowhere projects as they have no practical application and private industry understands WHO pays for these mis-adventures. NASA does not have these inhabitions – they WILL waste our tax dollar in the most insane manner imaginable. And people will still treat them as if they hung the moon.....
Allow me to fix you. Have you ever flown on an aircraft? Have you ever used a post-it note? Have you ever had a computer work longer than 5 minutes because of incredible technological advancements in cooling? Do you ever watch TV? Do you ever use a cell phone?
You can thank NASA for all of this, idiot.
Aircraft and TV predate NASA. Post-It notes came from 3M. You may have gotten one of the others correct, but I rather doubt it.
Dear Idiot Fixer – Check your facts. NASA is not responsible nor can be given credit for all of those things. Planes and phones came long before spacecraft. You hear this drivel all the time, and having worked at NASA I know better.
You're an idiot if you think studying space is a waste of money. Just making sure but do you understand that earth is running out of resources? hmmm i guess they'res nothing to do but drain importent programs that will help mankind greatly in the future. Believe it or not, but they're other planets out there and stick with me, there just might be resources there too! I know it mind blowing!! How about you educate your self first then talk.
Dear Kyle..... Do you know what nitric oxides do to the ozone layer? Long lasting catalytic destruction of ozone. Hmmmm – that rocket exhaust......not minimal by any means. Emitted in high earth atmosphere without the presence of liquid water that would strip it out as "acid rain". Millions of pounds of exhaust gases right where it hurts the most.
Ya, because less then 1% of the budget is going to make or brake us. lol
You are so uninformed I'm not sure where to begin. Your soccer-mom van and the millions like it are what is greating global warming, not the handful of NASA launches a year. Your cell phone, computer, wifi, and internet would not exist without NASA research. Your GPS system was military launched, but NASA developed. So when you take your little soccer-van to the match in a park and need to find your way, thank NASA. There are so many things NASA research has injected into your soccer-mom life. The plastic in junior's shingards and the pressure-resistant lining in his soccer ball likely came from NASA polymer research grants. I could go on and on, but suffice to say you should spend a little more time reading about NASA before blurting out such an ignorant opinion. Perhaps less time concerning yourself with soccer and a little more understanding your government? Just a suggestion.
The NASA (National Aeronautic Space Administration) budget for FY 2013 was $17.7 billion
defense budget is $851 billion.
Whos wasting more money?
No one in this comment thread knows what they are talking about. No one works for nasa or is knowledgeable about nasas space exploring intentions.
Are you sure? Perhaps you think this is "cutting edge" technology – the best that NASA is capable of.
Im pretty sure they already have the results from the people who have been living on the Space Station for
the last decade
Hey Elizabeth Landau, We all learned how to spell Tucson in the first grade. Can't expect too much from CNN, I guess.
Nothing new here. Long-duration effects on the human body are already understood.
Hope the Russians use fresh ty-wraps on the engine mounts on the way up.......
Please... If we are so concerned about the effects of weightlessness (and we know that it is bad for us from COUNTLESS other studies) why not engineer around it? Even in SciFi movies and Skylab we see that living inside a rotating drum to simulate the acceleration due to gravity can lessen the problems seen. This last NASA stunt sounds bizarre and is a waste of our national resources. C'mon NASA stop doing the same old stuff over and over and over.....
Waste of resources? Tell that to the thousands of people who went to school for their numerous types of degrees, including engineers and doctors. They went to school for this, for science, mankind's future. Because it doesn't interest you, we should stop? And put the money where, anti-gun law enforcement?
Yeah right Kris – take your degree and put these guys in space for a year. Spend millions – and what do you have? Nothing! Just like the current space station – all hype little science. It ends up being a playground for the rich or famous at tax payer expense. We only have ONE spacecraft that matters (EARTH) and if we can't get the rules straight here there is no hope for us anywhere.
Well my degree and thousands of others are putting my kids through school, providing a nice house to live in and many more things. But wait, I guess I'm just being greedy now, huh? We all have our interests and specialties. No, I am not curing cancer but one day a study like this might add insight to a cure or at the very least provide information to people who are interested in it and could use it. People don't know, most of the budget it takes to developed and execute something like this goes straight to a dinner table to feed the next generation of thinkers.
You think they would have picked him if Giffords hadn't had been shot. How about if she had died? This is such blatant public display for attention, shame on them.
You do understand that this Kelly is not Gifford's husband, right? So his career should be ended because some people think this all about publicity related to his now retired brother's wife?
Reading generic Web chats its obvious why smart folks will one day head out to find a smarter place to live.
Amen!! Space-X just announced a ticket to the new Mars colony would cost about $500,000 a head. I just figured out what to do with my retirement money. LOL!
Can't fix the cesspool of stupidity here on Earth. Ignorance and being cool is praised. Education and expertise are despised. We need to start over with the smart folks and let the beasts inherit the Earth they are destroying.
Capt. Scott Kelly, I expect a full report on Nibiru ASAP. lol
That's a lot of deep space masturbation.
Day 203: "SMASH HEAD ON WALL, MUST SMASH HEAD ON WALL...."
Is it really gay if you're in space for a year together, alone with just another guy?
Yes
Only if u kiss
If the Mayans are right, he 'll be the only surviving human..
No genius, read, 2015.
The unmanned space program, including lunar lander, fly-bys of planets, telescopes, et al. has contributed tremendous knowledge of the universe, and I wish it to continue forever.
But I've yet to see any evidence of an actual discovery made as a result of the manned space program that was anything beyond advancing the manned space program itself (I don't count the manned repair of the Hubble telescope, which could have been replaced by a properly designed one on a second launch with many orders of magnitude lower cost). A year long space mission to study how space effects the human body is another example. Why do we care? We are never going to go live on another planet. Our biology already tells us that. There are much better basic science investments to make, including the unmanned space program projects, ocean exploration, and earth-based biological, chemical, medical, energy and environmental research. Since we do have finite resources, and a population that does not generally like to pay taxes, we should concentrate our resources on more sensible projects, any of which can employ scientists and inspire our motivated youth. The manned space program continues to be a series of expensive and dangerous stunts.
Why do we care? Lots of reasons. What if Columbus had said "what's the point, there's a lot of better things I could be doing here". The main reason though is if we are to survive as a species we must get off the Earth and be able to populate other worlds. If we don't we will become extinct.
I totally agree. We are explorers...we came out of the cave, discovered fire and it went from there. It's what's next....as humans, we are here to explore and this is what's next.
excellent point. had columbus remained in italy, and applied the same amount of effort to improving his surroundings as he did successfully making voyages, he may well have cured the bubonic plague. of course europeans may never have successfully stolen and polluted the native populations' lands, murdered most of them, and introduced disease.
You may well live a longer and healthier life due to the medical advances made as part of the space program. The space program has given us major improvements in technology, medicine and other areas, not to mention the sense of esteem that comes from the space accomplishments themselves.
What medical advances has space travel brought butthole? Waste of money
it brought memory foam.Much more.Nasa developed much you have.
Nice English you idiot
Says the guy with no period.
Much you have? Retard or idiot?
Our sun will go nova in a few billion years and vaporize our earth. We probably won't survive that long ... but if we somehow do, we may want to be able to migrate to another planet or another solar system somewhere ...
It wont go nova or supernova.It will become a white dwarf.
Won't also 2 spaces after a period you uneducated idiot.
You are just as idiotic saying space exploration is bad.Learn some history.There was a moon landing.
...in YOUR opinion.
Of course we are going to get off the planet. Every 250,000 years we have an extinction event due to asteroid collision. We have to become a multi-planet species before the next one or we go the way of the dinosaurs. Grow or die. Grow or die.
For whatever reason, for many people the idea to populate another planet seems fancier than fixing and maintaining earth. Even though we know that earth in its worst form will perhaps still be more inhabitable than any other deep space Utopia-land out there.
The last two Apollo missions had astronauts trained in geology. They has specific rocks they needed to find and identify. This was something a robot could not do. A human can scan an wide area and adjust for color and identify possible solutions that a lander/probe can not. Telling the difference between basalt and other forms of rock is hard when the color hues are similar.Finding anorthosite would not have been possible via telepresence.
The Soyuz capsule is called TMA-01? Interesting and probably not a coincidence they named it that..... in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey the name of the Monolith site found on the moon was Tycho Magnetic Anomaly 01 or TMA-01 in the film.
The unmanned space program, including lunar lander, fly-bys of planets, telescopes, et al. has contributed tremendous knowledge of the universe, and I wish it to continue forever.
But I've yet to see any evidence of an actual discovery made as a result of the manned space program that was anything beyond advancing the manned space program itself (I don't count manned repair of the Hubble telescope, which could have been replaced by a properly designed one on a second launch with many orders of magnitude lower cost). Finding out how space effects the human body is another example. There are much better basic science investments to make, including the unmanned space program projects, ocean exploration, and earth-based biological, chemical, medical, energy and environmental research. Since we do have finite resources, and a population that does not generally like to pay taxes, we should concentrate our resources on more sensible projects, any of which can employ scientists and inspire our motivated youth. The manned space program continues to be a series of expensive and dangerous stunts.
You're speaking in very short terms here. The ultimate goal of the space program is to allow human beings to move beyond planet Earth. Yes, robots and computers and automation do their jobs...within their limitations. But, at some point, we're going to be personally traveling into outer space for whatever reason, be it exploration, adventure, escape, or just because the demands of a particular mission exceed the technological capabilities of an unmanned mission (seriously, for all the accomplishments of the Mars Rover program, there is so much more we could have accomplished with live human beings there to analyze the phenomena without the filter of video, pre-set experimental parameters, and computers.) So we're in the early stages of preparing for this eventuality. Now, you may disagree that this will ever be a desirable thing, but that doesn't impact the basic logic of preparation for those of us who believe it will be necessary one day.
Not all.
A year ....that's a lot of space carrot waxing.
Maybe it has been pointed out, but the caption for photo #10 is incorrect. That is NOT the crew from the Apollo-Soyuz flight. The crew shown is a Shuttle flight with space station crew.
Can we send Obama instead?
4 More Years...haha...get used to it: the GOP is an antiquated party.
are you interested?
Romney applied, but then declined once he found out it was to a space station and not his new planet.
Hahahahaha........lmao
No. He's too busy being our President for another 4 years!
I suspect NY Jets fans could propose a few extra passengers for that mission. I'm not a Jets fan but I do feel sorry for those fans because there is talent on the Jets. No one seems to know how to make it click. Giving up 3 touchdowns in 52 seconds to your hated rivals the Patriots?? You got problems and you need to ship a few people to the ISS so they are out of the way.
Why are you talking about football in relation to this article?
Because 'Murica.
How bout sending Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck, and Bill O'reiley. Im sure they could entertain themselves.
As attractive as this sounds, it is scientifically unfeasible since Limbaugh has his own gravitational field.
Apply cold water to burned area.
The Human Centipede IRL
I'm not sure if Limbaugh and Beck meet the basic qualification of being human.
So what? They had dogs, guinea pigs, mushroom-growing kits in space...
No drugs up there for Rush, no audience to lie to for Beck and O'Reilly is too smart to want to be stuck in the ISS with those two rubes.
I would be very interested in knowing the testing methods used to determine the compatibility of two men from different backgrounds, cultures and personality traits.
I will have to say, 1 year 'stationed' at the ISS hangar in Baikonur indeed deserves highest recognition because there's not much to look at in the steppes of Kazakhstan...
http://www.fountainsofthegreatdeep.com/IFS.htm
How about a series of orbiting trailers? We can send the teabaggers there.
We could send humans to Mars within a year or two; the problem is getting them back (with Mars' stronger gravity, it would take a return ship much more massive than the Lunar Lander, tons of fuel, etc.) BUT ... would anyone be willing to make it a one-way trip?
Let's send all the Republicans in Congress.
Please!
Mars has weaker gravity then Earth about 40% or so of Earths gravity. So the escape velocity is much lower.
But it has much more gravity than the Moon, which is what we are comparing it to.
On a semi-related note, the two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, are so small that you could obtain escape velocity from them with a bike and a ramp.
Doesn't really have anything to do with this article, but it's a damn cool fact and one of the reasons why I love science.
Ha, I got what you were saying after I replied, comparing it to the Moon not the Earth. It is a Monday after all.
Mar's Gravity is 38% of Earth's gravity were the moon's gravity is ~17% of Earth's Gravity.
It would be best to have a lighter/smaller lift off vesile on Mars with respect to the Moon, but with more fuel.
Can't imagine a smaller, lighter space ship than the Lunar Lander. The take-off section was barely large enough to fit 2 humans inside.
Greater Gravity? What science fiction you read about Mars? How about Science Fact? Its these uneducated beliefs that prevented us from going PAST the bloody Moon!
I meant that Mars has stronger gravity than our moon. I'm sorry if my comment was not clear.
Can you imagine if Arnold was president?...Sir, we would like to go to Mars now, may we have the funding authorized? "DO IT, DO IT NOW"!!!!!!!!
Ok, here you go: as an engineer and space enthusiast for 40 years, I've been thinking about the Mars trip for a long, long time. 1ST: if you think it thru, I mean really really think it thru, there's absolutely nothing on Mars we cant get here on Earth, COSTS CONSIDERED. 2ND: On Mars,there's no air, or heat (it's -125 deg F.). There's nothing to build with, to burn, or oxygen to burn it in, for that matter. Not enough sun for solar power(unless you have square miles of solar cells).You would have to take absolutely everything you need to live on for the 2 year trip to get there, for the stay, and for the 2 year trip back. You'd need an enormous ship, built in orbit (I'm talking 100,000 tons or more that could house the hydroponics needed, the nuclear reactor(s) needed for power and heat, and all the extra crew and special facilities to compensate for and fix anything that broke on the way. My final guess: 10-50 trillion dollars, and 20 years to make it happen.See?
The ship does not have to be anywhere NEAR that big. It does not have to cost anywhere NEAR that much. And it CERTAINLY does NOT have to take anywhere near 2 years just to get there. We are quite capable of getting a ship into an orbit that would take NO MORE than 6 months. A Mars expedition is quite possible with nowhere near the effort or cost that YOU say would be required. For an engineer your math is not too sharp.
Hey Rick.....who the hell cares?
... and your point is?
uhm, after 40 years as an engineer and space enthusiast, you haven't noticed that all three rovers on mars right now are solar powered? okay, we've established your credentials as a space expert, observer and thinker. lessee what else we can figure out.....
i've read nasa design proposals over the last 40 years, dating back to the 70s, and nothing even close to 100k tons has ever been suggested.
i don't know what you designed as an engineer, but i hope i never have to depend on what ever it was. you don't seem to be terribly bright to me.
Have to agree. 100 tons max. 100kT, are you kidding?
Read Peter Zubrin's A Case for Mars. Could be done cheap, fast, and expand capabilities with each trip.
"there's absolutely nothing on Mars we cant get here on Earth". You missed the obvious: we're overpopulating Earth & Mars has room.
What will likely happen is that we'll eventually build robots & send them to, ie: Mars, and they'll build liveable conditions for astronauts to move into & then for others to join them.
See?
Um, no.
It takes 6-9 months to reach Mars when its orbit is at it's closest point to Earth, not two years. It is not -125F all the time Martian summers often reach 50 to 70F during the daytime, nighttime is cold yes, but it is not -125F all the time. There were two rovers powered by solar cells that lasted well beyond their estimated lifespan. Solar is not the best, but it does work.
I don't even know how to respond to what you said we would need for a space ship... 15-50 trillion dollars? Get real......
By "engineer" I sure hope you mean the dude who drives a train, because you are way off base on space travel. For one thing; there is absolutely no reason that all the supplies to live on mars would need to be transported with the astronauts. Initial supplies can be sent ahead, and resupply shipments can be staggered later, on vehicles that would not require life support.
For someone who had to state their profession, you are full of it. You sound like an idiot that is day dreaming about numbers for the mars mission. If we time it right when mars is closes to earth then it will not take two years. You wrote the price out to be over a trillion dollars, well i have to agree the project will balloon very high. The reason why we need to go to the moon and eventually mars is it will be the step stone for our eventually colonization of the universe. Everything is in one basket right now and the basket is earth. For our race to escape extinction we have to leave the planet. For a engineer you should realize that but you know what, i don't buy it. The biggest problem we have with the mars mission besides the massive budget is the solar radiation that the crew have to endure. Until we do some more testing with human survival in these extreme conditions the mars mission is only in the books.
Hey man, if Weyland-Yutani can do it...
...and by engineer, I mean I'm really into Star Wars...
Many of us grew up in the 60's and 70's when space flight was a great adventure. We were doing great things, then the govenerment pulled the plug on funding. The space program, expensive as it is, still is well below the other items budgeted by the taxpayers. If we did not stop the program, we would most likey have been well on our way to Mars and other places. We need this kind of science to allow our childern to want to expand our understandings of the universe. To not allow our space program to continue is very closed minded and does not allow for other technoligies to be developed to assist in solving our problems here on Earth. As for funding, the US alone should not carry the entire cost. This is a global effort that will benefit all of us.
How would you like to be the mother who gets to say TWO of her son's are Astronauts...
As a male, I'd have to say that it would feel pretty awkward.
Wow is all I can say. Astronauts are certainly a breed apart. Their family must be so proud of them.
25 years ago I saw a commercial on tv that advertised becoming an astronaut for nasa. It aired in the middle of the night. Im not lying and I was sane at that time. I still dont lie much but am fearful.for my sanity. Perhaps I could steady my nerves at a Martian spa......hmmmmmmmmmmm.
I remember those ads back at the beginning of the shuttle program. Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura) was the person on the ads they were to get people to fly the Enterprise.
The earth rotates on it's axis at a rate of 800 mph......at the same time the earth orbits the sun at 67,000 mph. Our solar system (sun and 9 or 10 ) is traveling across the Milky Way at a rate of 500,000 mph. Now with that being said....who cares? That's a formula for a big-ass collision......somewhere and someday. In the meantime.....we grow old ....watch our love ones and friends die one at a time.....then we die and turn to dust. What's the @#$%$ point. Oh yeah "heaven"
If its all about killing time till we all die, I'm going to kill my with rocket ships.
You can kill yours with cranky messages on cnn.com...
Hope he doesn't forget his gravity bong.
how long would it take to get to Uranus
any post with Uranis in it makes me laugh 🙂 Only reason the Russians have the "record" for longest stay in space is probably because they couldn't figure out how or afford to bring them back....
Too all those that say manned space exploration is a waste of time and money, I saw just the opposite that it is literally the single most important thing that the human race can do with its time and money. The reason being as we know more about space we learn more and more how really dangerous a place it is to put all of ones "eggs" in one basket (planet). Its a fact that in the past almost all life on earth was almost extinguished several times due to catastrophies and that another such even it certain to happen and it can happen at any time with little warning. Imagine if the earth were destroyed completely such an event would have happened is the shoemaker levy 9 comet that hit Jupiter had hit us instead. Then all the thousands of years of human history all the struggles and triumphs would end without a trace as if we were never even here. And we have the technology today to spread humans out into space to ensure human and human histories survival. What future do you want for your childrens children? One where one day it will all end because we were too short sighted to do what was in our power to do or one where we can be ensured that no matter what happens a part of mankind will live on to have a future?
You've seen too many sci-fi movies. The nearest planet to earth that has even a chance of being habitable (& might not even exist) is about 120 TRILLION miles away. Even if we poured all our time and resources into space exploration, it'll take centuries to get to that planet. Our sun will probably die anyway before we manage to get a human to another solar system. Everybody's going to die, what difference does it make if it's from old age or a mega meteor?
Not exactly….although you are correct about the distances, you are far off on the time it takes to travel such distances for the actual travelers.
Keep in mind that current technology outstanding, we are on our way to develop ion drive capabilities that will continuously, on small increments, increase the speed of our long range spacecraft, such that the theory of relativity dictates slowing of time for the travelers. This will eventually allow 1 or 2 generations of space travelers to reach nearby stars and potential habitable planets.
Don’t be so pessimistic, us humans have and will have great capabilities. We have just started to scratch the surface of space travel over the past 70+ years, our race has been around for millions of years…imagine what we will be capable of in the near future!
So... what you are saying is that.... the glass is half empty?
both the moon and mars are habitable. its simply a question of for how long. we've had people on the moon for several days. it will be possible for permanent manned stations to be established on the moon and mars. it will take time, money, and most importantly, national will.
Yep, you tell 'em. Just like those uppity Wright Brothers who though mankind could actually take to the air! Fiddlesticks!
You know, we don't have to travel to another star in order to spread humanity out into space. Plenty of room right here in our own neighborhood to spread out in to avoid calamity.
And maybe by the time our own star has completed another billion years in its main sequence stage (its increased heat and luminosity making life on an unprotected earth impossible) , perhaps our slow boats to other stars will propagate the species – as long as forward looking people have not been extinguished by small minded Luddites in the future.
As some people have already correctly pointed out I was not talking about going to earthlike planets, just building stations or colonies in space itself is the best solution like at the L5 point where no energy is needed to maintain orbit. Bases or colonies could be built on just about any planet or moon or orbiting a planet like Jupiter or Saturn is ok too. The point is to get human beings, plants and animals plus the DNA storage of all life on earth and all human knowledge out there anywhere but all here on one planet where one big disaster could wipe it all out. And all this has been without our technological capability for many decades now. Not to mention being out there will make it easier for us to know in advance any incoming threats and give us the know how to do something about it. I doesnt matter what you think is important ON earth it is never as important as preserving humans , knowledge and the life of earth out in space. You can solve the worlds problems, you can defeat cancer, aging, poverty, energy crisis, pollution problems, global warming and climate change but if you dont think about space everything you accomplished on earth could be wiped out in a second and it would all be for nothing.
We will terra-form, build artificial heat and atmosphere if the sun is too far away to warm the planet/asteroid. We will slowly spread and someday find another world just as beautiful as earth and i hope by that time we have the will to keep that planet pristine.
The glass is always have full but we still wont mind having a full glass. Just don't waste it.
Seems like a waste of money if you ask me. NASA and the Defense Department are gearing up to send a manned mission to Mars. While I do think there is scientific validity in such a mission, its really colossal waste of taxpayer money considering how successful Curiosity has been in exploring the planet. Keep the Astronaut on earth, save a boat load of tax money, and keep funding the effort to discover the cosmos with probes and telescopes.
Could you please break down the cost analysis of how much this trip would cost and what you would much rather be spending the money on please?
Oh....you don't have any numbers off hand? So you are talking directly from your rear? Yeah, I thought so
Ok, here you go: as an engineer and space enthusiast for 40 years, I've been thinking about the Mars trip for a long, long time. 1ST: if you think it thru, I mean really really think it thru, there's absolutely nothing on Mars we cant get here on Earth, COSTS CONSIDERED. 2ND: On Mars,there's no air, or heat (it's -125 deg F.). There's nothing to build with, to burn, or oxygen to burn it in, for that matter. Not enough sun for solar power(unless you have square miles of solar cells).You would have to take absolutely everything you need to live on for the 2 year trip to get there, for the stay, and for the 2 year trip back. You'd need an enormous ship, built in orbit (I'm talking 100,000 tons or more that could house the hydroponics needed, the nuclear reactor(s) needed for power and heat, and all the extra crew and special facilities to compensate for and fix anything that broke on the way. My final guess: 10-50 trillion dollars, and 20 years to make it happen.
Oscar,
Energy on Mars is very feasible. I am an engineer what work specifically on the solar arrays for Opportunity and Curiosity….they have performed very well on Mars given the thin atmosphere. Nuclear power is also a feasible option, please see current rover design should you have questions on this front. Your idea of an orbiting SC with “tons” of supplies is flawed. NASA and ESA are looking at repeat missions to Mars, where the payload landing is much greater than the payload leaving, in effect adding additional capabilities to the Mars colony with each mission. You don’t have to complete all the missions in 20 years, or 100 years. You build your station just as you build your International Space station with each mission. Keep in mind the cost of getting a payload to Mars differs from the ISS mainly because of the landing expenses, leaving Mars expenses and maintaining a safe environment for the travelers, the launching costs (the majority of all space missions) is the same.
A Mars Colony will allow exploration of a new world. We do not know what the scientific gains will be, but what we do know if every time we have explored another world, we have been surprised, which means we have learned invaluable lessons (for each planet in our solar system there are trillions in the visible universe….dont underestimate the big picture!!).
Kind Regards.
Oscar, you *don't* take everything you need on one trip. That *would* be wasteful. You send hundreds (or more) smaller, unmanned trips, bringing what is needed for an extended stay on mars. Payloads not much larger than the Curiosity mission.
With this approach, when humans finally arrive, we don't just have a flag-planting and photo op; but a permanent outpost with sustainable infrastructure, ready to do real long-term science!
I'll acquiesce to the repliers that have responded to my post and are in the industry and have an actual idea about costs of a manned mission to Mars. Here's a few ideas off the top of my head to spend the savings of sending probes instead of manned missions...Keep funding, even expand, NASA's budget to discover the cosmos with probes and telescopes (said that in the original post btw). Provide lifelong healthcare, low interest mortgages and job training for all our Vets (especially the one's who but their butt's on the line for W's nonsense). Repair America's crumbling infrastructure. Job training for disadvantaged teens and people who are striving to get off the dole. Public school education, including a raise for all teachers. Repair the damage caused by the natural disasters in New Orleans, New York and Joplin, Mo. The Homeless. Global warming research. Alternative energy research. Medical research. Shall I continue?
A waste of money??? Really??? The Afghan and Iraq wars have cost us $5 trillion and counting and they haven't accomplish much but take the lives of many innocent people and raised havoc on our economy. Perhaps we should put the GOP in a luner module and blast them off on a yoyage to Pluto.
It would be nice if they could just research what makes conservatives in red states such bigots and racists! Just curious!
It's George Bush's fault were all racist ... Didnt your lord and savior BO tell you that by now?? Wow where have you been ?
Can you not entertain the idea that conservatives are NOT bigots or racists? That perhaps the people who accuse them of this might actually be the bigots and racists?
i dunno if anyone has ever mentioned this, but manned presence on the moon and on mars is NOT about exploration. its about exploitation. the permanant establishment of a human colony with the resources to expand that colony. that means that the land of mars and the moon can be considered as real estate, not a petri dish.
I take it you nodded and agreed with Romney when he said, "Cut Seseme street."
Yes. You're 100% correct. We should stop all scientific explorations and research immediately because these things cost money.
Let's stop all medical research, oceanic explorations, archeaological digs, missions to space, etc. because it doesn't matter where we came from or where we're going. Advancement, ideas, possibilities and progress based on discovery & knowledge is a huge waste of time. All that matters is the here and now and no one should pay any taxes at all because that would cut into our beer money and our ability to buy another big screen tv.
In fact, you should get rid of your computer as a show of ignorant solidarity because it was created out of vision, innovation and discovery.
Okay Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater, show me where in my original post I said ban all scientific research? I didn't. I said the astronomical costs of a manned Mars mission could be spend better elsewhere considering the knowledge Curiosity is bringing us. So please, if you can't constructively contribute to the discussion without grandstanding just S T F U>
Sorry TBone ... you lost this argument. Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater nailed it and your childish comment makes you even more of a loser than your original comment did.
Beautiful, Peter! And there you kept him very well!
Any space mission is a good space mission. We learn something from each one. If people would quit complaining about the money spent, (which wouldn't make a damn bit of difference in solving our global problems of poverty, starvation, and over-crowding) we could have been to Mars and other places already. It's embarrassing to think that we don't even have a permanent moon base yet. With today's technology it should be child's play.
The U.S. is already in possession of acquired technology to get anywhere inside the asteroid belt and back in the time it takes to go outside and mow your lawn. The ISS and other worthless year-long follies in Earth orbit are just smoke and mirrors to keep NASA functioning and funded while they carry out other classified research to adapt all that acquired technology to our human needs. These meaningless Earth orbit trips are simply designed to divert folk's attention away from asking questions about what else NASA & the USAF may be up to. Trust me, when the time comes that we have any urgent emergency need to be back on the moon or Mars or to deflect any incoming dangers in the solar system, you will be amazed at the propulsion systems and craft they mysteriously roll out of a hanger with the casual claim, "oh, we've just been working on that for a few years now". It's also part of the reason the Shuttle program was allowed to die, because it was meaningless and a waste of money with the classified knowledge of all the other outside technology we are in possession of which will make the Shuttle look like a wind-up toy. Won't be long folks until it all comes to light, promise ya
Yep, I trust you.
Your foil hat may be defective
That's what happens when you use that cheapo generic aluminum foil instead of the good stuff, Reynolds heavy-duty aluminum foil.
It is not radiation from the space ship what is burning your bold head on Area 51, it is the sun. Stay under the shadows buddy, I can smell bacon already.
If someone has already spent more than a year in space, what's so news great about this?
Its not about setting records, its about collecting data that can be applied to future missions. Those prior missions did not include the range of experiments to be performed during this one (especially the poor Russian stuck on their station as the USSR disintegrated into multiple nations.
Relax Douglas unless they removed your hands your love life would remain unchanged.
Yeah, but at least there's a chance here on earth, albeit rather slim 🙂
Take man to Mars ? Will never happen. The moon is 240,000 from earth. Mars is about 49 million miles. It would take about 4 months travelling straight out at 17,000 mph (no layovers, LOL). NASA better be prepared to stock the spaceship with at least 8 months worth of food/water. And yes, I know they're up in the space station for a year at a time, but it's only a few hundred miles away and they can be easily resupplied.
It wasn't so long ago that travel the the South Pole was nothing but a dream. And a man on the moon?? Unheard of.
Don't ever doubt that the human seed will someday populate the cosmos. It may not happen in our lifetimes, but it will happen (if we don't incinerate the planet Earth and ourselves first).
Distance to Mars varies from 34 to 61 million miles.
Sure it will happen. In fact, we (USA) should have been there already. When we finally do, there will probably be a bunch of Chinese astronauts waiting for us.
Don't miss the story on the Chinese *just now* landing a plane on an aircraft carrier. After you read that rethink your post here.
There is nothing except money stopping NASA or other space agencies on our planet from sending multiple supply pods to either orbit or land on Mars months if not years in advance of a shuttle mission to reach Mars. There could send years worth of food, water, oxygen, fuel, equipment, tools, entertainment etc just like they sent the rovers, long before 1 human is launched for the 4 to 6 months it takes to get there. Obviously, the ship they send needs supplies for the trip to and return trip from Mars, but the supplies for being on Mars can already be there.
With today's robotics and engineering, we could launch pods that once they land on Mars could search each other out and join together to make their very own space station on Mars surface, potentially even tapping into frozen water under the surface to provide a source of water, all without the need of an astronaut being there to tighten down a single bolt.
Funding is the only thing stopping them from doing so.
Hmmmm someone once said man would never fly either....
check yer facts dood. 17 kmph is orbital velocity. escape velocity for earth is something like 25 kmph. using a hohman transfer trajectory, it takes about two years to go from earth to moon. using direct course, it takes about six months. hohman trajectories take less fuel, but require lots more consumables, as the mission looks like about 4 years minimum. direct course requires lots more fuel, but much less in the way of consumables.
there is a trade off between the two, all other things being equal. duration of humans in microgravity would be an important deciding factor.
Two years to go from Earth to moon, I think you mean Earth to Mars, Rocketgrrl! Earth to moon on a similar trajectory is 3 or 4 days. I know you know this, just spelling it out for the folks in the audience.
Nasa has predicted this mission for quite some time to be done in 2030. They plan on sending supplies before this mission ever happens. Remember, they are rocket scientists after all...
I love how many people are complaining about how this is a waste of money lets just go to mars. Going to Mars with today's technology is almost a 3 year mission lets just pretend we all work at NASA and that this is probably a test for future long term flights to mars and back.
I'd much rather have tax payer money look at the Universe than blow up a nation. I think we've learned enough from war.
Love to, but if we can't handle a 1-year vacation in Earth orbit, how can we expect to tackle a 3-year trip to Mars? Besides, we've got to do something to keep occupied while the private sector works up to that trip *cough*thatNASAwillnevertake*cough*
Dude spent his childhood in Orange, New Jersey. A year in the vast wasteland of space is nothing.
Seriously, NASA needs to leave low earth orbit for the private sector and get back to exploring the solar system with people, not just machines.
waste of time we already been down this road lets go to mars.
Yep, we'll just strap rockets to their @sses and send them on their way.....
another waste of nasa money...another waste of imagination by nasa...but at least its not another waste of money towards mars ...hey guys how about something exciting ....a trip to an asteroid or the moons of Jupiter...something to catch the imagination not continue with the bureaucratic ghost of nasa past
It will be done.
Your contributions to life amount to......
I for one agree with Patrick…we should be exploring the outer solar system, they will have great scientific revelations. But it’s a step by step approach. Mars will have to be first given the technical challenges of radiation protection, long space flight effects on the human body and landing large spacecrafts on alien planets will be directly applicable to the exploration of the outer solar system. You don’t want to go for gold in the space industry, its to risky and you will pay heavily if you fail (especially on manned missions).
I for one believe we will have explorers on Mars and other moons/planets within our life-time. These missions are not as far away as many think.
I know life inside that obtuse brain of yours must be difficult, but there are valid reasons why we are looking at Mars. Besides the obvious, which I doubt are obvious to you, do you have any idea the technologies that have been taken from Nasa and adapted in society? Try to look at the macro sometimes and not always the micro. If we only looked at micro you probably wouldn't have a comment section to waste your opinion on.
If the aliens come to earth, I hope they take me and my family away from this crappy world.
We're all pulling for you.
The planet is always greener on the other side of the universe.
If aliens left their planet to come here, what makes you think their planet was so great?
On behalf of humanity Menachem we are hoping too!
I hope the aliens take you away too.
i hope so too! i mean you and your family.
I think I would go a little crazy.
Uh, it's already been done, right?
4 times?
They aren't doing it to set a record. They're doing it to perform research that has not been done before.
HAHA, I just said almost the exact same thing in reply to another post. Oh well.