A Mars Colony in Our Lifetimes?

[Horwood Beer-Master]

Heard it before.

"Bilbo! Bilbo Baggins! Bravest little hobbit of them all.."

I liked the "best rated" comment for that video on youtube,

When my parents walked in and saw me watching this, I switched to porn because it was easier to explain.

[Coito ergo sum]

A relatively simple system for habitats on Mars, at least in the earlier stages.

Foster_partners_Lunar_Base1-537x320.jpg

buildingalun.jpg

Multi-dome_base_being_constructed_node_full_image.jpg

If only we were still going to build those on the Moon. Would be nice to practice on something that was only 250,000 miles away, and not between 34 and 250 million miles away. I miss Constellation. Sad.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Current policy is not a good predictor of future events. Truman had no plans to go to the Moon.

[Coito ergo sum]

Current policy is not a good predictor of future events. Truman had no plans to go to the Moon.

Yes, the problem is, we had a program that was about half way along, and had we continued it, we'd be only a couple of years from another moon landing. In order to get re-started, we'd have to get the political will to say "well, we spent a bunch of money on a program we never finished, but let's start doing it again." And, we'd have to either admit that the cancellation was the wrong thing to do, or start up a program that was so significantly different than the previous one that it couldn't be characterized as restarting the program that wasn't worth finishing in the first place.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Current policy is not a good predictor of future events. Truman had no plans to go to the Moon.

Yes, the problem is, we had a program that was about half way along, and had we continued it, we'd be only a couple of years from another moon landing. In order to get re-started, we'd have to get the political will to say "well, we spent a bunch of money on a program we never finished, but let's start doing it again." And, we'd have to either admit that the cancellation was the wrong thing to do, or start up a program that was so significantly different than the previous one that it couldn't be characterized as restarting the program that wasn't worth finishing in the first place.

Help me out here, who canceled the program?

[Coito ergo sum]

Current policy is not a good predictor of future events. Truman had no plans to go to the Moon.

Yes, the problem is, we had a program that was about half way along, and had we continued it, we'd be only a couple of years from another moon landing. In order to get re-started, we'd have to get the political will to say "well, we spent a bunch of money on a program we never finished, but let's start doing it again." And, we'd have to either admit that the cancellation was the wrong thing to do, or start up a program that was so significantly different than the previous one that it couldn't be characterized as restarting the program that wasn't worth finishing in the first place.

Help me out here, who canceled the program?

The Obama Administration. I didn't want to mention it, because then the discussion becomes about defending the Obama Administration rather than discussing manned space missions.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Current policy is not a good predictor of future events. Truman had no plans to go to the Moon.

Yes, the problem is, we had a program that was about half way along, and had we continued it, we'd be only a couple of years from another moon landing. In order to get re-started, we'd have to get the political will to say "well, we spent a bunch of money on a program we never finished, but let's start doing it again." And, we'd have to either admit that the cancellation was the wrong thing to do, or start up a program that was so significantly different than the previous one that it couldn't be characterized as restarting the program that wasn't worth finishing in the first place.

Help me out here, who canceled the program?

The Obama Administration. I didn't want to mention it, because then the discussion becomes about defending the Obama Administration rather than discussing manned space missions.

Thanks, just wondering. Anyway, we could have built a railroad to the Moon by now with the money pissed away on wars this century alone.

[Coito ergo sum]

Current policy is not a good predictor of future events. Truman had no plans to go to the Moon.

Yes, the problem is, we had a program that was about half way along, and had we continued it, we'd be only a couple of years from another moon landing. In order to get re-started, we'd have to get the political will to say "well, we spent a bunch of money on a program we never finished, but let's start doing it again." And, we'd have to either admit that the cancellation was the wrong thing to do, or start up a program that was so significantly different than the previous one that it couldn't be characterized as restarting the program that wasn't worth finishing in the first place.

Help me out here, who canceled the program?

The Obama Administration. I didn't want to mention it, because then the discussion becomes about defending the Obama Administration rather than discussing manned space missions.

Thanks, just wondering. Anyway, we could have built a railroad to the Moon by now with the money pissed away on wars this century alone.

I agree, as with the money we've pissed away on other things as well. The Moon bases could have been paid for with money pissed away on fraudulent stimulus projects, wars, and Medicare waste/fraud. It's a crying shame.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

How much fraud was there in the stimulus projects, btw?

[Coito ergo sum]

How much fraud was there in the stimulus projects, btw?

Well, there is $50 billion a year in Medicare waste and fraud.

Lots of fraud and waste in Stimulus projects -- http://cagw.org/content/shovel-ready-jobs-swindle and http://cagw.org/content/weatherization- ... lowin-wind

I think it would have been quite good "stimulus" to have put, say, $100 billion of the Stimulus into the Constellation program. Hire more engineers, scientists, builders, materialmen, chemists, physicists, astronauts, and support staff -- get the job done, expand the program, employ people in high tech jobs and inspire the nation.

I think we could also take $100 billion of what was spent on "Homeland Security (and wasted -- like the dopey airport security measures that largely don't work, and which have now been pulled -- lots of those scanners that people objected to are gone).

I have no illusions that money spent in the military is not wasted, and I sure as fuck would rather see a Moon base than an Iraq War, etc. But, not all the military spending is wars that could have been avoided. I mean, we could have opted not to go into Afghanistan, but I am not sure how people can be opposed to Afghanistan now (unless they are very young people) because in 2001, 95% of the American people were in favor of it.

But, the larger point I make about this is that there can hardly be a better case for "Stimulus" made than a space program. It boosts factories and industry because of materials and machines that have to be ordered, it employs high tech and highly educated people, it employs skilled tradesmen and even unskilled workers in support staff. It produces measurable results and advances the sum total of human knowledge in a way that building guardrails around dry lakes and funding failed "green energy" boondoggles doesn't.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Okay, that's "stimulus" fraud?

[Coito ergo sum]

Okay, that's "stimulus" fraud?

And, waste. Yes.

To believe that the government found a way to run an $850 billion program without fraud or waste involved strains credulity, doesn't it? I mean -- if that were done, Obama really would be the Messiah. He would have done something impossible for any mere mortal.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Okay, that's "stimulus" fraud?

And, waste. Yes.

Okay, I'm going to get another dictionary, this one's fucked.

[Coito ergo sum]

Okay, that's "stimulus" fraud?

And, waste. Yes.

Okay, I'm going to get another dictionary, this one's fucked.

What are you getting at. I used two words, not just one. Fraud and waste. http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2009/ ... aud-waste/

Are you really suggesting that an $850 billion government program contained no fraud or waste? http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/ ... aspx#page1

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I don't know why I bother.