Mars rover beams back 'awesome' shot of surface

[riggs]

It was a nice arm

LOL........yes it was

[Hans]

That's the same approach they took going to the moon.

But is it the right one??

And I figure that orbital facilities will have to be a lot more complex, making such a journey easier. Not to mention Moon facilities helping out.

No, I would suggest you check the moon landing history. You will notice it took many different forms of space flight before they made the flight to the moon.

[RWGR]

Soundy says all we get out of the Mars mission is gravel. I trust his judgment over the experts at NASA.

[Soundbear]

Soundy says all we get out of the Mars mission is gravel. I trust his judgment over the experts at NASA.

And, naturally, you don't really want to discuss it.

We understand.

[Soundbear]

No, I would suggest you check the moon landing history. You will notice it took many different forms of space flight before they made the flight to the moon.

Uh huh, and??

[Hans]

And this Mars mission is part of that cycle.

[Soundbear]

And this Mars mission is part of that cycle.

That's one hope.

The moon missions were political stunts to show up the Russians. Man learned a lot from them, but not from the actual visits. The information gained was from the creation of new technology needed to get there. Moon rocks (and we can't get Mars rocks) told us little of value.

IF a base is created in earth orbit, along with manufacturing capabilities there and on the moon, utilizing the moons natural resources, then man will be able to reach Mars and the rest of the Solar System in reasonable time, with reasonable expense.

If these bases are not created, as stepping stones to space, then what you see now, robots looking at rocks, is all we will ever see of Mars. I consider them to be little more than gimmicks.

[Hans]

I hope you know the moon landing did more than collect rocks.

[Soundbear]

I suppose we learned something more about about selenology. But that is only helpful if we go back to live and make use of the moon.

As I said, getting there taught us quite a bit.

Speculative fiction has described orbital space habitats and factories producing products using material mined from the moon. If that evr happens, it would make the exploration of the rest of the solar system much more economically feasible, mostly because of the sheer cost involved in gettin things from the earth's surface to orbit. Remember how much of the moon shot rockets ended up being thrown away. Now think of the saving if the launch base for further exploration was in orbit.

Will any of this happen?? Considering the way the world is going, I actually doubt it.

[Hans]

You assume we will keep using fuel propelled rockets for space exploration. I believe we will end up using light propelled rockets instead.

[Soundbear]

You assume we will keep using fuel propelled rockets for space exploration. I believe we will end up using light propelled rockets instead.

"Every action is accompanied by an equal and opposite reaction". Newtonian law, I believe.

Light sails are possible, Light propelled rockets? Hmmmm. Where did you hear that idea??

[Hans]

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/laser-97b.html

[Soundbear]

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/laser-97b.html

Interesting. Might make launches to orbit a lot cheaper.

However, this technology can't drive a ship beyond that.