There might be liquid water on Mars. There's evidence of liquid water having been there once. But really we don't know for sure, and that's the point. Theres so much we don't know. So much we don't know we don't know. So much we can learn.
The idea that we should let justified disgust of rich libertarian techbros poison the well on the entire concept of space exploration is reactionary. There have been several socialist countries (or as close as we get currently) with ambitious space programs too, don't forget.
That meme of Xi telling western radlibs they were right and he's going to start dismantling the Communist Party, except it's Zhang Kejian telling western neoluddites that he's gonna take apart the CNSA.
I mean, is there really any reason to send actual humans to Mars? It's logistically almost impossible, risky and basically useless. Except for it being a pretty big feat rocket science it's not like we would get a lot out of it. Humans should be focusing on fixing this planet first and then on colonization of other ones. And it's not like SpaceX could even achieve this in my lifetime. They haven't even shown that they can send a man to the moon, let alone a planet that's a 1000 times farther.
Also mars has caves which are likely to be the most scientifically important features in the planet, and robots can't really explore those because of the whole "needing a connection to data which is done from satellites" thing.
I think I've misunderstood your original post. It's not like I'm totally against space exploration, I believe that humans can achieve anything when they put their minds to it. It's just that, in the current climate on Earth, I doesn't look feasible. The idea of sending several crews to Mars and seeing them well fed, with all their equipment and sheltering them from the elements would still demand serious investment (that no one on a profit driven planet is willing to make) and even more serious planing than it seems we can muster in this era. The main proponent of this whole endeavor is still a man who's intention is not space exploration for the sake of it but the generation of proffit. We also have to consider the reaction time that we would have in case of something going wrong there. I still don't think it's an acceptable risk to send humans on such a dangerous endeavor.
However, I stand corrected on the points regarding the science, you're absolutely right and I am sorry for talking out of my ass, I hope I didn't anger you too much.
Yeah, that's all cool and accurate, but Mars has a third of the Earths' gravity, people are not gonna be livin on Mars unless folks want everyone who grows up there to suffer bone disorders and osteoporosis
IF there's a future for humanity in space, it's gonna be in space habitats
The tech-capitalists obsession with Mars is stupid not because of the science but because of the economic, medical and social implications that they don't care about or understand
Posted this above but send up some robots and hook em up to a cool VR thing. Obviously this would be crazy expensive and you couldn't let people that might break it at the controls so probably no public access, but whatever, it's a step towards something we could all experience. It would at least make a cool stream to watch.
All I'm saying is that any sort of real-time interactive Mars drone piloting experience just wouldn't work. Imagine playing Mario Kart but it would take 8 minutes from you pressing left on the analog stick for your kart to turn to the left, and another 8 minutes for the screen to show you that your kart turned to the left
It'd probably make more sense to record a bunch of data on Mars and then creating a virtual VR experience based on that (We could probably already do that tbh). Or maybe having rovers with 360 VR recording equipment doing regular preprogrammed tours and then showing the recordings to people afterward.
The time/light delay between Earth and Mars is anywhere between four minutes and 25 minutes one way, and then there's weeks where communication between the two planets is all but impossible because the sun's in the way. NASA programs the Mars robots' whole day, every action, well in advance. To just plug in to a VR system to 1:1 control a Mars robot you'd pretty much need to be on Mars anyway, or in Mars orbit at least.
There's nothing wrong with going to space (even if we have issues to fix on Earth) but space should not be for the capitalists. Just like how Earth should not be for the capitalists either.
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The earth is on fire and launching more rockets to Mars makes Earth burn faster.
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You stand on a pier and take a thimble of water out of the ocean, look at it and say, well, that's all there is to know about this place I guess
The water is here in your biome where you live.
The rust rocks are not.
There might be liquid water on Mars. There's evidence of liquid water having been there once. But really we don't know for sure, and that's the point. Theres so much we don't know. So much we don't know we don't know. So much we can learn.
The idea that we should let justified disgust of rich libertarian techbros poison the well on the entire concept of space exploration is reactionary. There have been several socialist countries (or as close as we get currently) with ambitious space programs too, don't forget.
Oh my God who the fuck cares we have to save THIS planet first
That meme of Xi telling western radlibs they were right and he's going to start dismantling the Communist Party, except it's Zhang Kejian telling western neoluddites that he's gonna take apart the CNSA.
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I mean, is there really any reason to send actual humans to Mars? It's logistically almost impossible, risky and basically useless. Except for it being a pretty big feat rocket science it's not like we would get a lot out of it. Humans should be focusing on fixing this planet first and then on colonization of other ones. And it's not like SpaceX could even achieve this in my lifetime. They haven't even shown that they can send a man to the moon, let alone a planet that's a 1000 times farther.
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The moon landing happened when Nixon was president, but that was still good. Good things can be done despite a bastard in charge
Also mars has caves which are likely to be the most scientifically important features in the planet, and robots can't really explore those because of the whole "needing a connection to data which is done from satellites" thing.
Wow. Thanks for the great write-up comrade <3.
I think I've misunderstood your original post. It's not like I'm totally against space exploration, I believe that humans can achieve anything when they put their minds to it. It's just that, in the current climate on Earth, I doesn't look feasible. The idea of sending several crews to Mars and seeing them well fed, with all their equipment and sheltering them from the elements would still demand serious investment (that no one on a profit driven planet is willing to make) and even more serious planing than it seems we can muster in this era. The main proponent of this whole endeavor is still a man who's intention is not space exploration for the sake of it but the generation of proffit. We also have to consider the reaction time that we would have in case of something going wrong there. I still don't think it's an acceptable risk to send humans on such a dangerous endeavor.
However, I stand corrected on the points regarding the science, you're absolutely right and I am sorry for talking out of my ass, I hope I didn't anger you too much.
Yeah, that's all cool and accurate, but Mars has a third of the Earths' gravity, people are not gonna be livin on Mars unless folks want everyone who grows up there to suffer bone disorders and osteoporosis
IF there's a future for humanity in space, it's gonna be in space habitats
The tech-capitalists obsession with Mars is stupid not because of the science but because of the economic, medical and social implications that they don't care about or understand
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Posted this above but send up some robots and hook em up to a cool VR thing. Obviously this would be crazy expensive and you couldn't let people that might break it at the controls so probably no public access, but whatever, it's a step towards something we could all experience. It would at least make a cool stream to watch.
Love loading into the Mars Robot lobby and seeing the 480000 ms ping
So you have to wait
All I'm saying is that any sort of real-time interactive Mars drone piloting experience just wouldn't work. Imagine playing Mario Kart but it would take 8 minutes from you pressing left on the analog stick for your kart to turn to the left, and another 8 minutes for the screen to show you that your kart turned to the left
It'd probably make more sense to record a bunch of data on Mars and then creating a virtual VR experience based on that (We could probably already do that tbh). Or maybe having rovers with 360 VR recording equipment doing regular preprogrammed tours and then showing the recordings to people afterward.
Run a cable.
The time/light delay between Earth and Mars is anywhere between four minutes and 25 minutes one way, and then there's weeks where communication between the two planets is all but impossible because the sun's in the way. NASA programs the Mars robots' whole day, every action, well in advance. To just plug in to a VR system to 1:1 control a Mars robot you'd pretty much need to be on Mars anyway, or in Mars orbit at least.
Run a cable
Fucking wait then.
There's nothing wrong with going to space (even if we have issues to fix on Earth) but space should not be for the capitalists. Just like how Earth should not be for the capitalists either.
Taking care of earth is priority though.