The thread about Obama wanting to cut NASA's budget for manned space flight got me thinking about how in the 1950's and 1960's we had all of these predictions for the space flight and colonization that haven't been even close to passing. For instance some fairly smart and reputable science fiction writers had predicted that by now we would have a moon base, giant orbiting space stations and satellites collecting solar power and beaming it back to Earth. Now its 2007 and none of that, except for a very limited space station has come to pass. So where did the sci-fi writers go so wrong? Did the mistake have to do with overestimating the progress of technology or misreading the direction of politics and the global economy?
and how the f did we build a fleet and land a moon in a 10 year span 40 years ago and it will take another 20 years to get back?
Good questions from both of you. I was one of those reading all that stuff, Yao Ming Kicks Ass, and really thought that we would be far, far ahead from where we are. I'll read other responses before I post more about it. I'm still tired from the other thread! Trim Bush!
Y'know that stuff is still possible, but I think people are still stuck in the 1950s...but we do have the technology to build a base on the moon, but could you imagine what kind debt it would put the country in.....Even though, personally, I think it could be done rather cheapily and easily without problems. I watched Space 1999 a few years ago on BBC or CBC I think it was cool little show. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DF9nDJZrdA/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqdMmH7UE_s&feature=related
I think a lot has to do with the fact that we got to the moon and everyone said "YAY.... uh... now what?" No one cared by Apollo 14, since the goal was more to beat the Soviets than anything else. Kennedy himself put the purpose of going to the moon for the sake of the challenge. The current SST fiasco has done nothing to help matters, eating a large chunk of the NASA budget.
As a country, we don't have the will do so unlike during the Kennedy days. We do have the will to fight wars though... We might do something when China actually sends people to the moon.
1) A LOT more money. 2) Considerably more risk. 3) A rather large amount of "large rocket engine expertise" ready to go. Much of that engineering expertise (and, more importantly, the fabrication/construction techniques) must be re-ascertained.
We went from first flight to the moon in 66 years -- SF writers expected that steep technology curve to continue as did the public.
More than you can possibly imagine. The entire telecommunications revolution was spurred by NASA spending in and around Silicon Valley. I wrote a blog post about it a while back. Here is the News.com article that was the catalyst for my blog post. Here is a NASA web page that goes through many of the technological, historical, and societal benefits of the space program.
What happened to Space 1999? I think they jumped the shark in the middle of season two, and then the show went off the deep end. Once you had one after another alien who could mind-read, make people hallucinate, and go-go dance in reverse image... the death of space exploration was nigh.
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how is there considerable more risk? were lives not as important back then i guess it's all just about the money.
A lot less fault tolerance, and a lot less testing. The short answer then is "yes, NASA risked lives more readily back in Apollo days." The longer answer is much more complicated.
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They were living in an industrial age and they thought in linear, industrial terms. I.e. - we would progress from slow cars to fast cars to flying cars. In the 90's the industrial age ended and we switched over to the information age. Who needs a flying car when you can chat with somebody around the world on a BBS? I don't have to fly to minnesota to talk to you, i can do it right here. Most of the Sci-Fi writers dropped the ball, with some notable exceptions (WIlliam Gibson, e.g.)
there you go Take The computers that made the 1st flight possible I think I could but a machine that was as powerful as all of them [as in raw computing power] then spend my day play solitaire DD - I am sure the computers you use in your business would blow them out the water but You do computer games which is a lot more lucrative than Space program best Rocket Technology goes to Defense department at every notch of the way focus has been on other things If the Next president said . .as their 1st act. . .we goto the moon in 2 yrs or NASA goes bye bye . .. I would GUARANTEE someone would be having their wheaties on the moon in 2010 Rocket River
