Will humans make it to Mars in our lifetime?

[clips]

It\'s a proven fact that American\'s have large penises.

tru..no doubt...and i\'m livin\' proof of it!!....:cool2:

[Viper_Fujax]

Yeah but landing on the moon, even tho everyone knows that was Americas time to shine and they did it to be in the spotlight. It became a human accomplishment not just an American one and shows what the species are capable of.  Even if going to it was only for bragging rights, it became much more than that in the end.

Also how many times have scientific discoveries been made by accident or have been found from an indirect link because some other scientific discovery? Even if developing technology to go to mars has no direct link to medicine, whos to say something invented along the way could turn around and make finding the cure for cancer much easier. Some tool or something. Humans furthering their education in any field that we have not mastered is good as a whole, not just its primary objective.

Likewise what if on the road to curing cancer they find a way or something to make humans more durable in space travel, or something that helps bones and muscle not lose their strength on account of being in 0 gravity.

I think curing cancer is without a doubt, along with curing many other diseases should be at the top of the human agenda. I also think that education is the most important thing you can give any human being, not just a child. I don\'t think education ends after university I think its a lifelong experience. One of the few things I can say that has 0% percent downside. Just simple learning.

Yes the schools are quite shit at the moment, as rich as this continent is North America still puts out some of the lowest % of scientists into academic fields when compared to other countries. This is a big problem and definately needs to be fixed. I however personally think that going to a \'lifeless rock\' is just as important as discovering the cure for cancer in the grand scheme of things.

all that and of all the things "wasting "our tax money (which is what people like mm would label it as), space exploration is nowhere near the top of that list. it\'s a lot of money, but really isn\'t in the broad scheme of things. mm\'s just being a stick in the mud...who \'da thunk

I think at LEAST something like this should be funded

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17473059/

cause well if that happens...were kinda fucked.

all that and of all the things "wasting "our tax money (which is what people like mm would label it as), space exploration is nowhere near the top of that list. it\'s a lot of money, but really isn\'t in the broad scheme of things. mm\'s just being a stick in the mud...who \'da thunk

Amen.

I never once mentioned North American, I mentioned humanity. I don\'t care what country does it, I just want someone to do it. This whole thing about wasting money, crying about the education system is just absurd. The Space Program is important to North America, but a space program for any country is important. It furthers our knowledge as a human race about all the stuff we don\'t know.

As for Clips comment about the ocean. The ocean truly is the last frontier to discover. It is amazing the stuff down there.

Planet Earth - FTW, by the way. The episodes about the oceans are amazing. Not to mention all the space shots.  Great stuff.

all that and of all the things "wasting "our tax money (which is what people like mm would label it as), space exploration is nowhere near the top of that list. it\'s a lot of money, but really isn\'t in the broad scheme of things. mm\'s just being a stick in the mud...who \'da thunk

what broad scheme of things?
that the US govt has to find expensive ways to spend taxpayers money?

[Viper_Fujax]

broad scheme of things as in the country\'s tax use as a whole. in relation to all the other taxes, which could be used way more efficiently in many other areas, space exploration doesnt account for shit. Instead of complaining about using things to further our knowledge, complain about us building the useless berlin fence by mexico...

i mean..they put up these huge clouds, bulletin board type things on this huge water tower by my house...what the fuck?

NASA wanted almost 18 Billion for 2008 alone.

that\'s approaching the UN\'s yearly budget.

[Viper_Fujax]

what did they get though? theyll always want a crazy amount since you can never have enough money.

im trying to find a list of what programs get how much/the most, but all im finding are short lists with obvious stuff like social security

[Titan]

That\'d be pretty interesting...i was watching a program i guess on the discovery channel about the ocean floor and this is supposedly the farthest anybody has ever been.... i think they actually went to the ocean floor using some type of mini sub or device, but anyway that deep down the ocean was in complete darkness, and there were all kinds of alien looking creatures down there that glowed in the dark.....if you\'ve ever seen the abyss and how the alien craft looked and how the aliens themselves looked, that\'s exactly how these creatures looked,...they were somewhat like jellyfish in the sense that you could see thru them but the way they glowed was like a neon-like flash show...really interesting stuff.


It should also be noted that there were these really intense hot area\'s down there,.. i mean i think the narrator stated something like the temperature in these immediate area\'s was like 800 - 900 degrees, but there were actually creatures living by these guisers of intense heat, there was this giant crab living in realm of these intense heat guisers seemingly unfazed by the intense heat...it was kind of amazing to see something exist like that on the ocean floor considering you would think that on the ocean floor, the temp would be incredibly frigid...

Isn\'t like such a small part of it explored? I love the deep sea. That was one of my favorite Planet Earths. Imagine if we did more exploration how much we\'d find.