President Obama said Tuesday that man will land on Mars within 30 years

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/oct/11/obama-wants-go-mars-within-generation/

Er excuse my asking but - Why? What's the point? Anybody??

 

This global fixation with 'Mars' is seriously weird; almost as weird as the BBC's fixation about 'when dinosaurs walked the earth' ( ) and how they became extinct.

 

Didn't he shut NASA down? So how will we get to the Mars? Virgin Air?

 

Because humans are explorers.

Who do you think has been operating the International Space Station all this time? Who do you think ran the New Horizons mission to Pluto, or landed the rover Curiosity on Mars?

 

Be that as it may, but I meant what will they do when they get there?

Non-sequitur - the ISS is 'in planet Earth's back yard' whereas Mars er, isn't!

I don't think about it at all because it's all BS.

 

The same thing George Mallory did when he reached the top of Mt. Everest, or when Roald Amundsen reached the South Pole, or when Lt. Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Human beings are explorers, and we go these places not for any particular reason but just "because it's there".

When your statement was that Obama "shut NASA down", how is this a non-sequitur?

Well, your half right at least.

 

It is indeed highly likely humankind will reach Mars within the next thirty years....likely 20. The reasons being much the same as landing on and exploring the moon. One being the human need for exploration and another being the massive technological benefits in doing so.

Expanding the survival possibilities of our species must also be considered, as well as the "are we alone" question.

 

why would we spend to going to a planet we can't live on

 

We are going to Mars because it's a test for the private space industry.

 

Read my lips - OUR SPECIES WON'T BE ABLE TO SURVIVE THERE, SO WHAT'S THE POINT OF GOING????? Can't you see you're being fooled?

 

I said no such thing.

 

Don't expect an answer to that question - I never get one when I ask it.

 

Our species can't survive in space or underwater either but we've been going there for decades.

Sorry, that was TrackerSam's comment. My reply should have read "when the statement was that Obama "shut NASA down", how is this a non-sequitur?"

 

Yes, but that’s only for short periods of time; how would you like to live your entire life in a space suit, or in sub-aqua paraphernalia? Or more realistically, in an artificial (purposefully constructed) environmental installation? (am I really needing to ask that?)

It doesn’t matter, I can’t be bothered to trawl back for the context.

 

Nobody will be living their entire life in an artificial environment in space, at least not in the foreseeable future. Trips to Mars will be long and dangerous, but humans have been making long and dangerous trips for centuries because we're explorers. When we give up looking for new lands to explore and new things to discover, then we will have died as a species.

 

I wouldn't take him seriously. It's the kind of thing President's say. George Bush said something similar.

The fact is, he doesn't care about Mars or space. His administration stripped funding for the Constellation program, which was a stepping stone to Mars, and directed to focus on outreach to Muslims. A space agency that has a priority of making Muslims feel good about themselves because...Algebra (?) isn't going to Mars or anywhere else. The fact that the US has no way to put a man in earth orbit (something we had been able to do since the 60's) speaks for itself.

 

I guess you could also ask what was the point with Columbus and other explorers?

 

Give the international space station a little credit..https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_International_Space_Station_visitors

If you change 'earth orbit' to 'on the moon' then I agree 100% with you...

 

We can't send astronauts to the ISS anymore. We have to hitch a ride with the Russians. I imagine if President Hillary gets that war with the Russians she's aiming for, Russia will just declare the ISS Russian territory and we won't be able to do anything about it.

 

Obama stripped funding from the Constellation program, which was way over budgets and behind schedule, and put it into the Commercial Crew Development program, which will give us not just one, but two man-rated launch vehicles in the next couple of years, with others following closely behind. The Russians will still be using the 50 year old Soyuz.

 

True, but the difference is that when they've reached these places they'll be able to survive long enough to return home? You don't seem to understand the differentiation between explorations on our planet and those into deep space.

 

Er, Columbus et al did all their exploring on planet Earth, not into deep space? See the difference?

 

The idea here is that Humankind has an innate desire for expansion and exploration which comes about partially from an active imagination that you obviously do not have. Many people do indeed put forth effort and often succeed in this....SEE THE DIFFERENCE?

 

Wrong - it's because I have the intelligence to know when something is impossible, and that to pursue it is beyond stupid. SEE THE DIFFERENCE?

 

This mindset and the accompanying assumptions were also in play before we landed on the moon amongst many who had the lack of imagination and faith in technological possibility that you project. Yet we did so and went on to develop a space shuttle system that allowed us to built a space station....what is next?

I do not know but, my imagination allows me to see the private sector becoming a driving force shortly that will become the impetus for large advances in capability and commitment to things we can not yet even seriously consider. Already we note such things as Mars One being seriously funded and considered.
http://www.mars-one.com/
When NASA truly begins to work hand in hand with the Private sector....things will get very interesting. very quickly. Though nat as quickly as little minds expect which is sometime next year.