Moon Shot; 1969

[CarbideBob]

How much where we a different place then?
A divisive war and much racial dived but this united people.
Perhaps JFK's best .
I have always thought the death of the USSR would not be good for us as we no longer have that competitor.
All the talk and such,,,,,We did this to beat them and we did it.
So many people and so much tech at the time folded into this.
All off of one leaders one day speech.
Bob

 

[otrlt]

How much where we a different place then?
A divisive war and much racial dived but this united people.
Perhaps JFK's best .
I have always thought the death of the USSR would not be good for us as we no longer have that competitor.
All the talk and such,,,,,We did this to beat them and we did it.
So many people and so much tech at the time folded into this.
All off of one leaders one day speech.
Bob

Yes Bob,
The Russians never had a chance. The commitment from the US to spend "what ever it takes" made this happen.

Many of these contractors received Purchase Orders that were labeled as "1 cent", these contractors named their price.

 

[9100]

How much where we a different place then?
A divisive war and much racial dived but this united people.
Perhaps JFK's best .
I have always thought the death of the USSR would not be good for us as we no longer have that competitor.
All the talk and such,,,,,We did this to beat them and we did it.
So many people and so much tech at the time folded into this.
All off of one leaders one day speech.
Bob

About the time we were getting mad at Saddam, one of our space advocacy group arranged for the official journalist for the Russian space effort to visit and give a talk here. He was in Chicago doing some sort of internship with a newspaper there. He hung around with the people we only see in newsreels, talked about what a nice guy Yuri Gagarin was and how egotistical Valentina Tereshkova was. Afterward, some of us got to talk with him and his wife. I especially remember one comment she made. The Russian government was in turmoil with Gorbachev trying to hold it together. Regarding Saddam, "You lost one enemy. You were very fortunate to find another."

We won't have that problem for a while. Our leader is determined to keep the enemy supply full/

Bill

 

[EmGo]

We won't have that problem for a while. Our leader is determined to keep the enemy supply full.

Disclaimer : I don't like the man. But let's be fair. By this time in their tenures, all three of the presidents preceding him had several wars on their resume. If anything, he has been more restrained than anyone we've had since 1980.

 

[Gordon B. Clarke]

I have always thought the death of the USSR would not be good for us as we no longer have that competitor.
Bob

There are now two that are serious competitors. China and India.

The US was first to the Moon but who'll be the first to Mars?

If our Sun was the size of a golf ball (4cm) the Earth is about 4m away. The next nearest Sun, on the same scale is 1,200km away. That's about 1½ inches, 160 inches and 750 miles.

Mind boggling distances.

 

[CarbideBob]

There are now two that are serious competitors. China and India.
......

All the other "enemies" now are not so much competitors.
China of course and behind that India as noted.
Difference is that both are seen as producers of "cheap" stuff so the public does not see them as worthy competition.
The USSR was a totally different deal. They sold nothing here but we wanted so badly to outshine them.
We were never miles ahead of them in this race.
The problem with being king of the hill is that you get complacent and start having internal augments as you have no other big boy knocking on the door.
I fear that is where we are now.
Bob

 

[Gordon B. Clarke]

All the other "enemies" now are not so much competitors.
China of course and behind that India as noted.
Difference is that both are seen as producers of "cheap" stuff so the public does not see them as worthy competition.
The USSR was a totally different deal. They sold nothing here but we wanted so badly to outshine them.
We were never miles ahead of them in this race.
The problem with being king of the hill is that you get complacent and start having internal augments as you have no other big boy knocking on the door.
I fear that is where we are now.
Bob

"Cheap stuff" won't get you into space and "complacency" is the biggest "enemy".

I wonder what future Martians (of Earth descent) will speak? Chinese, Hindu or English?

50 years after US moon landing, China is catching up in the space race - CNN

 

[plastikdreams]

We're never gonna really know it...but we are the only humanlike beings in the universe living on the only earthlike planet in the universe...I wonder how it all happened, the universe, planets, stars, black holes, quasars, pulsars, red giants, nutrinos, meteors, asteroids, galaxies, supernovi, gamma ray bursts, etc...mind blowing all this stuff is "here" yet we have no clue about how or why. Not only that we don't know, we will never know. Everything we know is theory, there is research to back it up but there is no way to actually prove it.

I find it amazing that the diversity of life on Earth is so complex yet works so well. I wish more people would recognize the whole picture, not just their little piece of the earth.

 

[otrlt]

"Cheap stuff" won't get you into space and "complacency" is the biggest "enemy".

I wonder what future Martians (of Earth descent) will speak? Chinese, Hindu or English?

50 years after US moon landing, China is catching up in the space race - CNN

They will speak American English, we are much further along than most think.

 

[Spinit]

Makes me feel that we live in a really great time. The space program spun off many innovations which transferred into the private sector that advanced the whole world. The push to the moon and after to Mars will advance that along.

I look forward to everything they are doing and have planned.

 

[EmGo]

Makes me feel that we live in a really great time. The space program spun off many innovations which transferred into the private sector that advanced the whole world. The push to the moon and after to Mars will advance that along.

There were people in the space program who did not like the moon landings. Or more accurately, they liked the moon landings fine but thought that we got more knowledge for less cost by unmanned projects, such as Galileo and Voyager and the Hubble.

If it hadn't been for the "defense" department, there never would have been a space shuttle. It was pretty cool but as things turned out, we probably could have got a lot more for the money by doing more real research projects and less spy satellite installations.

 

[Steve in SoCal]

We're never gonna really know it...but we are the only humanlike beings in the universe living on the only earthlike planet in the universe...I wonder how it all happened, the universe, planets, stars, black holes, quasars, pulsars, red giants, nutrinos, meteors, asteroids, galaxies, supernovi, gamma ray bursts, etc...mind blowing all this stuff is "here" yet we have no clue about how or why. Not only that we don't know, we will never know. Everything we know is theory, there is research to back it up but there is no way to actually prove it.

I find it amazing that the diversity of life on Earth is so complex yet works so well. I wish more people would recognize the whole picture, not just their little piece of the earth.

I agree that we "mankind" will never know at least without some form of time travel. That said, I still think of the billions and billions of celestial bodies that have come and gone. Are we the only experiment that took hold? We are figuratively a grain of sand on a beach in the universe. There is all the same components on earth floating around in space, the idea that we are the ONLY random sample that evolved is pretty egotistical IMHO.

That diversity on earth you describe so well points to the idea that it is not unique to this little rock. We just don't know what we don't know. Even IF there was intelligent life a few light years away we would likely never know it.

Steve

 

[9100]

I find it amazing that the diversity of life on Earth is so complex yet works so well. I wish more people would recognize the whole picture, not just their little piece of the earth.

The diversity of life works so well because anything that didn't was eliminated. People talk about restoring the balance of nature when actually it is often not restorable at all. If you dump a load of rocks, they will form a complex pattern that may collapse if you pull one rock out. Putting it back will not make the rest go back in their original places. Darwin and all that, you know. Replacement can work, such as returning the wolves to Yellowstone, but they were only away for a short time and everything else stayed pretty much in place.

There is no reason for things on another planet to evolve the same way but there are some natural laws that will be the same there.

Bill

 

[9100]

Disclaimer : I don't like the man. But let's be fair. By this time in their tenures, all three of the presidents preceding him had several wars on their resume. If anything, he has been more restrained than anyone we've had since 1980.

Unfortunately, you are correct. As Bobby Darin said, Some folks love doing battle, like presidents, prime ministers and kings.

Bill

 

[Spinit]

They will speak American English, we are much further along than most think.

We have a proven record. We have the technical expertise and infrastructure. We also have not given away our strategic industries completely. The people at NASA are not intimidated by anything except public apathy.

 

[CAMasochism]

The people at NASA are not intimidated by anything except public apathy.

Or wearing the wrong shirt in public.

 

[Steve in SoCal]

The diversity of life works so well because anything that didn't was eliminated. People talk about restoring the balance of nature when actually it is often not restorable at all. If you dump a load of rocks, they will form a complex pattern that may collapse if you pull one rock out. Putting it back will not make the rest go back in their original places. Darwin and all that, you know. Replacement can work, such as returning the wolves to Yellowstone, but they were only away for a short time and everything else stayed pretty much in place.

There is no reason for things on another planet to evolve the same way but there are some natural laws that will be the same there.

Bill

Bill,

I know you didn't quote me in your post, I am quoting you to refine my statement of intelligent life on other planets.

When I wrote my comments about the possibilities of intelligent life in other places I did not mean human beings or some approximation. That said, the expectation of some advanced life form could be as simple as the insect or as complex as man. That or a form that far exceeds man in form and function.

The evolution of species and extinction has been altered artificially in the last couple hundred years by human activity. From hunting and fishing to land use and, importation of alien flora and fauna. We can argue the impact but we can't ignore it as a root cause of extinction.

The "natural law" you mention does suggest a form with particular attributes that humans exhibit. Conceptualizing complex ideas, communicating discrete information and, manipulating objects are perhaps the most significant aspects of highly evolved creatures.

With all of the scientific achievement we have gained we still have only a rudimentary grasp of the universe. The vastness defies comprehension. We have only seen a glimpse of the neighbors yard, not even down the block.

Steve

 

[9100]

By "natural laws" I was referring to ones like Newton's laws of motion, which are going to be the same, albeit perhaps modified a bit by gravity or velocity, levers and chemical compounds that are still going to link in certain ways, etc. You are not going to find life based on lithium argonide.

Bill.

 

[otrlt]

Congratulations Sir Richard Branson,

The first "space tourist". Job well done.

 

[Larry Dickman]

Congratulations Sir Richard Branson,

The first "space tourist". Job well done.

I guess he gave up on the fucking balloons?