Science, it definitely still works bitches. - The Bear and Badger

Unlikely

We need funding to put poncing horses on Mars.

[Deleted User]

Unlikely wrote:

Yeah but there are no poncing horses on Mars.

Or is there!?!

I was surprised at how big the rover was, there was me thinking it was remote control car sized but it's actually 3 metres long.

Roujin

Blue Swirl wrote:

The original creator:

I've got nothing against the Olympics, I'm just trying to put things into perspective.

Cross posted to the pictures thread.

Cost of organising global sporting event + redevelopment of a portion of a capitol city = ~$15bn
Cost of building a car size robot and flying it to Mars = ~2.5bn

I've nothing against the original creator of the pie chart but he is obviously a fan of space exploration, not a fan of sports and has no grip on the what the scope covered by that $15bn was.

Lord_Griff

Hmm.

[Deleted User]

ZOMGZ Aliens and they smoke!

Lord_Griff

They all died of cancer.

[Deleted User]

Mars is just one big ash tray.

RamSteelwood

doesn't look very sunny. Â who is going to want to go there on holiday?

Skerret

Blue Swirl

Liveinadive wrote:

Unlikely wrote:

Yeah but there are no poncing horses on Mars.

Or is there!?! I was surprised at how big the rover was, there was me thinking it was remote control car sized but it's actually 3 metres long.

Yeah, it weighs nearly a ton or something, hence the horrendously complicated landing procedure.

Just to clarify, it was not my intention to say that the Olympics are a waste of time or money, I just thought it was an interesting graph that put things in perspective as to the real cost of space exploration.

For example, IIRC:

- the cost of the Apollo missions was less than the amount by which the US military over spent for the same period.
- the US military presence in Iraq to date has cost 500 times that of NASA's estimate to send a manned mission to Mars.
- the bank bailout in 2008 was more than NASA has got in 50 years.

Again, not wanting to start an argument about any of the above, just demonstrating that space exploration is not as expensive as people think.

Little Franklin

Still seems expensive considering there's no real point in it, but I guess you can say the same about the Olympics.

monkey

There is a point to it.

Little Franklin

To see which countries' horses has theÂ maddestÂ dancing skills?

igorgetmeabrain

Little Franklin wrote:

Still seems expensive considering there's no real point in it, but I guess you can say the same about the Olympics.

Are you seriously implying that there's no point to space exploration?

monkey

Little Franklin wrote:

To see which countries' horses has theÂ maddestÂ dancing skills?

Yes but on Mars.

Mod74

igorgetmeabrain wrote:

Still seems expensive considering there's no real point in it, but I guess you can say the same about the Olympics.

Are you seriously implying that there's no point to space exploration?

The primary purpose of Curiosity is to see whether life ever existed on Mars. Which whilst that may have some usefulness long in the future it is rather a more philosophical question than a practical one.

Contribute to our understanding of Mars millennia ago etc yadda yadda, but whichever way the answer comes back it's not going to have any great bearing on, well, anything.

MattyJ

It's not just the actual thing on Mars though, it's the technological advancements that get passed on to everyone else. Like invisible braces, scratch resistant lenses, ear thermometers, cordless power tools etc etc that NASA has invented.

Mod74

I don't know about the others but Black and Decker invented small electric power tools.

MattyJ

Mod74 wrote:

I don't know about the others but Black and Decker invented small electric power tools.

Ooo you are correct:

Although Black & Decker had already invented the first battery-powered tools in 1961 [source: NASA], the NASA-related research helped refine the technology that led to lightweight, cordless medical instruments, hand-held vacuum cleaners and other tools.

vicinity_of_pie

I wonder how much it would cost to have the Olympics on Mars.

Mod74

Less than in London, I reckon.

Little Franklin

But all thoseÂ technologicalÂ advancements came fromÂ pilingÂ tones of money into scientific/engineering research rather than exploring space. Not that we haven't discovered things in space, but imagine if JFK had said Â

I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of creating affordable personal jet-packs.

[Deleted User]

Yeah, we could just stop all sports, art, exploration and technological research. We could all just climb into an under stairs cupboard, wardrobe or cloak room and just wait this whole human race thing out in the dark.

Better yet let's all recede back to the swamps, bite of those thumbs people, you wont be needing those any more.

monkey

Satellites.

Mod74

Liveinadive wrote:

Yeah, we could just stop all sports, art, exploration and technological research. We could all just climb into an under stairs cupboard, wardrobe or cloak room and just wait this whole human race thing out in the dark. Better yet let's all recede back to the swamps, bite of those thumbs people, you wont be needing those any more.

I'm not being all duh, why try to learn about microbes on Mars or who is the best in the world at hockey, but it does feel kinda difficult to justify spending $17.5b answering those questions when there's thousands starving to death on a daily basis.

Of course, there's more money wasted on more wasteful things every day as well, but hey.

[Deleted User]

And how much money has been pumped into helping starving kids in the last 30 years of Live Aid and Children in Need etc etc. yet they are still starving.

If they find evidence of extinct life on Mars that could educate us on how to sustain life here. It could also be a massive flop and they could find nothing but dust, but thats not a reason to not do it.

There has to be a balance of all things Theres no point saving the human race if there is nothing to save it for.

Mod74

The approach to helping Africa has been wrong on many levels for many years.

Liveinadive wrote:

There has to be a balance of all things Theres no point saving the human race if there is nothing to save it for.

Conversely it's difficult to justify investing in the far flung future of the human race is there isn't one left to save.

Blue Swirl

Liveinadive wrote:

Yeah, we could just stop all sports, art, exploration and technological research. We could all just climb into an under stairs cupboard, wardrobe or cloak room and just wait this whole human race thing out in the dark. Better yet let's all recede back to the swamps, bite of those thumbs people, you wont be needing those any more.

Quoted for epic truth.

[Deleted User]

True Mod, that is why there needs to be a balance. It's not as though all Cancer research stopped for a fortnight for the Olympics.

tin_robot

Why Explore Space?

Letter written in the 1970s by the associate director of science at NASA to a Zambia based Nun who has asked him to justify the expenditure of billions of dollars on space exploration when so many children were starving to death in the world.

It's long, but it's a damn good reply.

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