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Mars Rover Curiosity Lands On Mars Successfully

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NASA's newest Martian rover Curiosity has landed successfully on Mars. The MSL cruise craft and EDL landing team controlling the operation are located at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, JPL, in Pasadena... (www.thefloridanewsjournal.com) المزيد...

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sheka
mark tufts 5
now maybe they will make contact with something and i agree with you sparkie623 about the martian faa reporting a ufo (chuckles)
JJ7
JJ Johnson 5
Let's see 2.5 billion to increase national pride, develop new technology's, learn more about our solar system and encourage young men and women to go into science and technology OR pee it away on useless wars in the Middle East sustaining the military industrial complex OR building housing projects so illegitimate kids can learn how to smoke crack and sell drugs. I vote for the first option.
sparkie624
sparkie624 5
I wonder if the Mars space authority reported as a UFO yet..... Good to see.
Moviela
Ric Wernicke 3
It is very long odds that we could send a vehicle sized payload 15 light minutes away and have it soft land itself. It used some 500,000 lines of code, and it worked flawlessly.

What is even longer odds is that all those folks controlling it in Pasadena showed up wearing the same color shirt!
ctworley
Tim Worley 3
Rover lands on Mars? I did not know dogs could fly.

Seriously, good job, NASA.
joelwiley
joel wiley 3
Enjoyed watching it live. Only downside, I couldn't find the flight# to track in FlightAware.
onceastudentpilot
tim mitchell 3
"Yeah America we numba won"...suck it China...lol...good job NASA
gordmac
gord macpherson 5
marvelous engineering and technology
rootuser
Root User 2
Very nicely done, now to fire up Canada's APXS and see what's been going on there.
mickndot53
Mickey McCarthy 2
Well preacher1, compared to the F22 fiasco it's one tremendous bargain. that's for sure. That thing has never flown one combat mission.
preacher1
preacher1 2
Well, you do have a point. I suppose there is a lot of stuff that we could compare it to. Then again, since making my post, the pics and all from last nite seem to have stirred up a little national pride that is badly needed, at least on Facebook.
StymieHo
Chris Donawho 1
See? Youre gonna find that this is no waste of money at all. The real waste is in the other sectors of our government. This rover will find the evidence it is looking for. It will change the way we look at our own universe. The first rinky-dink robots that landed there each made its own impact, capturing images never-before seen, orbiters finding water ice on the poles, etc. These revelations regarding our past, our origins, etc are far more important than social security or medicare or foreign policy.

It will eventually challenge religious views as well and I think that prospect adds a lot of trepidation for a lot of religous folks, yourself included Wayne. I understand that trepidation too. If I were to drop dead today and find myself before Christ, I would be up the proverbial creek....lol
preacher1
preacher1 1
Well my friend, there is the old saying regarding that trepidation, Better to be safe than sorry. You might miss out on a few worldly pleasures here, but you have a 50-50 chance. In looking at what the Bible says is to come afterwards, it won't change many religious views and I choose not to take that chance.LOL My sermon for today!!!
WALLACE24
WALLACE24 1
I don't see it as a waste, however at this point in time I don't see it as critical to our survival or economy. In fact I relish spending this money way more than the waste in the middle east. We all know how that ends if you just look at a little history. But I think we will be fighting for our lives here on earth long before we will have anything of substance on another planet.Amen
blake1023
blake1023 2
I love all these anti space program people. They sit here and say about its such a waste. Yet, they're on an Aviation Forum, an industry that has beneifited greatly from the space program. Then they drive home for work listening to sat radio, watch their sat tv, maybe fire up the microwave, or maybe even have a pacemaker to keep em alive. I'd like to see those people surf the web on their Iphone without the space program!!
preacher1
preacher1 0
Didn't say a dang thing about the space program, just this Mars program as an unneeded luxury that, like everybody else, when your broke, you cut back. Well normal folks do, but the government goes on like ther's no tomorrow. I just believe that $2.5 billion could have been better spent, or not spent. And FYI, the microwave was invented as a result of developing Radar in WW2.
blake1023
blake1023 2
Well, what $2.5 billion did create, is a whole bunch of private sector jobs, including small businesses, which I consider a priority. Maybe not to Liberals.. (source: http://money.cnn.com/2012/08/06/news/companies/mars-curiosity-jobs/)

You give $2.5 billion to the private sector this is what happens. The government spends $787 Billion in "shovel ready jobs" we get 8.3% unemployment.

I think this goes way beyond just looking for life on Mars. It’s going to expand our knowledge of the universe, and it will tell us a lot about ourselves.
JetMech24
JetMech24 0
No, thats just a whole bunhc of suckin' on the govt. teet.
JetMech24
JetMech24 -1
StymieHo
Chris Donawho 1
Define broke.... our money hasnt been backed by actual gold or silver since 1917... Today, it's just numbers on computers with no actual gold or silver or even that worthless paper they print dead presidents on to back them up. Those are just numbers. The debt we have isnt real, the money we have is worthless. Once the financial fog of the Central Bank collapses, money will no longer be necessary anyway. So dont worry yourself to sleep over the money. It wasnt worth anything to begin with.
WALLACE24
WALLACE24 1
True, except when the government can't pay their bills (which as you say is backed by nothing but their word) I think you'll find that the debt did matter. And I don't think we will really like the mutation from there.
preacher1
preacher1 1

[This poster has been suspended.]

preacher1
preacher1 1
Now Sebastien, don't go gettin' horsey and prideful because your name is on there.LOL

[This poster has been suspended.]

StymieHo
Chris Donawho 1
Oh Canada!!! Ok we get it... Be nice.
KATHAHOUSE
KATHA HOUSE 1
JJ got it right. Let's keep the money to benefit us and get out of the Middle Ease.
Doobs
Dee Lowry 1
JetMac24. I understand your frustration...all of us are feeling the effects of non-essential assessments that are imposed on us. Example: Your local congress person...who is suppose to be a servant and be the voice of the people are giving themselves pay raises without flinching about the financial crisis that the people that are in their district are incurring. I totally agree withwhat you said. Let's help "Here and Now". Hate to break it to you but politicians are stripping that away from the voice of the people. They are all a bunch of "Talking Heads"! They are not there for you...they are out for themselves. They may "Walk the Walk" but the don't "Talk the Talk"! I'm putting this conversation to bed. But all I wanted to say is that...your local political congress people are throwing everybody under the bus. God help us!
preacher1
preacher1 1
Well, on the bright side and regardless of our personal feelings, the money has pretty much been spent. It did keep some folks employed and maybe something good will come out of it. Better than what we can say for inside the beltway right now.
KATHAHOUSE
KATHA HOUSE 1
JJ got it right. Let's keep the money to benefit us and get out of the Middle East. We are still behind in Math and Science. It's time to move up in the world.
Doobs
Dee Lowry 1
Talk to me.
JetMech24
JetMech24 1
You put the conversation to bed. We'll have to agree to disagree.
Doobs
Dee Lowry 1
That's agreeable. Not everyone can agree with eachother. That's what makes conversation and opinions so interesting. Thankyou for the challenge. Although, I'm sticking to my beliefs and I embrace yours.
Goodnite, JetMac24.
JetMech24
JetMech24 1
G'night Dee
Doobs
Dee Lowry 1
Yes...and where is that getting us? We are at war with "Planet Earth". Humans are killing humans, we are destroying animal habitat...polluting our oceans. Each and everyone of us has to make that effort to preserve what's left of our world. If we, as the human population, don't take care of the environment, we, as human beings will be extinct. And we are doing a really good job of destroying the planet earth. Maybe, that's what happened on Mars! Don't know but...I would bet on NASA and JPL to find that out what what happened there so "Planet Earth" doesn't succumb to ignorance.
JetMech24
JetMech24 0
It's going to happen whether we go to Mars or not, it does not and will not prevent it, it's just flat-out in our nature to destroy ourselves. We could have invested all of that time and money into something that will help us HERE and NOW.
Doobs
Dee Lowry 1
The cost of Air Force One is appx. $180,000 an hour. And guess what? We are paying for it. Just an F.Y.I.
preacher1
preacher1 0
We the people and/or the Secret Service put the requirement for the Presidents travel on AF1. He goes where he wants to go, so, while expensive, we really can't complain. As far as this CURIOSITY thing;If times were good and money growing on trees like it was before the recession, I don't think you would be hearing anything, but we were already to MARS years ago, with enough stuff to determine that nothing was there. Right or wrong, a lot of people feel that this mission is an extravagance that we could not afford at this time. Probably had this been a near space mission for a new sat, cleaning up space junk or what ever, there wouldn't have been much, if anything said. I hope something good and tangible comes out of this and NASA really needs to mount a PR campaign about what they expect out of this or about any technolgy that gets developed off this. If they cannot, then regardless of all that it took to make it happen, it will remain a waste in the eyes of a lot of folks. IMHO
Doobs
Dee Lowry 1
Hey JetMech24...how do you know it's lifeless or if there was life on the planet? Exploration is a learning tool that incompasses our way of life on this planet. I'm not gullable. I want to explore and see all the possibilities that are out there. I will probably not experience, in my lifetime, what's on the horizon but the generations after me will benefit from this exploration in one way or a lot of ways. I'm not a "Tunnel Vision" person. I'm all for expanding the possibilities and opening up the learning curve. Negativaty is a waste of energy. Energy is what drives us in life.
JetMech24
JetMech24 0
Because previous "missions" proved that it can not sustain life, and here we are going back AGAIN. They might find life WAS there at some point, or organisms may still be there, but they still can not LIVE there. Whoppee-do. I am much more interested about the past and future of THIS planet.
iflyfsx
iflyfsx 1
Wrong. Scientists don't prove negatives, because they're smart enough to know you can't prove a negative. What you have proved is that you are not capable or willing to understand the potential of this mission, so trying to explain it would be a waste of time. Now, stop trolling.
JetMech24
JetMech24 0
I'm not trolling, I'm stating my opinion, you have no idea what trolling is. Go back to your flightsim. I get p****d off when I see waste of MY money, and this is a huge one, and not the only one either.
iflyfsx
iflyfsx 1
No, you're trolling. Anyone with an Elementary School education can look at the federal budget, do the math, and figure out there's NO WAY this could be a "huge waste" of money. The entire NASA budget is not that significant.

And that's just looking at the numbers. When you look at the cost/benefit ratio, the benefits from this mission can't even be compared to the outcome of two pointless wars, hundreds of thousands of civilians killed, and so on. Not to mention the Wall Street bailouts. There's where the real waste is. That's where the huge amounts of money really are. The rest is just an ignorant rant.
JetMech24
JetMech24 1
I did not say that it would balance the budget. I did not say that the other things are not wastes. I am saying that this is a waste that adds to the other wastes. I can SHOW you what trolling is if you REALLY want to see it.
WALLACE24
WALLACE24 1
No matter what you are for or against as relates to the federal budget, nobody wants any cuts in their sector. Everyone says their projects costs nothing as opposed to the entire budget. Flawed thinking. That thinking can and probably will bankrupt the country. Cities and counties are already falling. States are next. The elected people can't get it done because they are in the vote buying business to retain their careers. At least we will know how going broke plays out by watching the European countries. Nice to have a map. As they say it's only money and isn't worth anything anyhow but people kill for and over it everyday. Keep your guns handy. Lol
iflyfsx
iflyfsx 1
No, it's not just a matter of opinion. It's not all subjective. There are hard numbers and hard facts here. The Defense Department can't say "hey, our budget is insignificant, compared to..." They just can't. They also can't say we benefit greatly from starting wars of aggression, killing hundreds of thousands of civilians, and turning the rest of the world against us.

Space exploration, on the other hand, has very real and measurable benefits in all kinds of areas. It has a real and positive effect on the economy. It's a source of pride, not shame. The rest of the world admires us for it, instead of hating us. Sure, it is tough to measure ALL the benefits precisely, but we can measure a lot of them.

We are not bankrupt because everyone wants a piece of the pie. We are bankrupt because of rampant corruption, because we set up a system where greed is the ultimate and overriding consideration, because people are too stupid and ignorant about how the government is spending their money, and so on.
WALLACE24
WALLACE24 1
Thousands of insignificant budgets do add up a little. Yes the military budget is not insignificant. Without them though we wouldn't be here. I have no problem being aggressive against our enemies. I do have a problem with nation building because it doesn't work. Once we eliminate the element we are after we need to leave as fast as we came and stop all BS of pretending we are humanitarians. This has never been a peaceful world and never will be. That's why we have cops in our own "peaceful"country. Nobody is ever going to agree on every expenditure in the budget but continuous overspending will have consequences. You can count on that.
iflyfsx
iflyfsx 1
If we didn't spend 620 billion/yr on "Defense," we wouldn't be here? Ha!

Sorry, but I have some bad news for you. That kind of money has nothing to do with keeping us or our interests safe. We don't need 11 supercarriers, when no other country has even ONE. Who or what the hell are we trying to protect ourselves from?

This is not about defense. This is a BUSINESS. This is about moving our tax money to private contractors, who build weapons that will never be used. But that doesn't matter, because they are making money building them. Mission accomplished.

It's not an evil conspiracy, it's just a system we set up, where we spend ridiculous amounts of money on weapons we could never use. Because if we did, there would be no one left on the planet. That machine keeps growing, out of control. We are just too stupid to stop it or even slow it down, say "that's enough," and actually use those resources for more productive things. Things that could actually benefit us.
WALLACE24
WALLACE24 1
That is not what I said at all. I said without the military we wouldn't be here. I did not try and justify 600 billion budget at all. As a matter of fact I alluded to the fact that if we quit country building in Afghanistan and Iraq the budget could shrink. You're just hearing what you want to hear.
iflyfsx
iflyfsx 1
"Yes the military budget is not insignificant. Without them though we wouldn't be here." I heard you, and I disagree. And I explained why I disagree.

We don't need a $620 billion military for defense. We don't need that AT ALL.

Again, what are we trying to defend ourselves from? What kind of attack? What kind of weapons? How would our military be effective against those attacks and those weapons?
AWAAlum
AWAAlum 1
Getting a little off topic here, aren't we?
preacher1
preacher1 1
Probably so, but neither one will change their minds and instead of agreeing to disagree, I think a young one here cannot accept the fact that tnere might be another opinion out there and that they don't know everything. They probaly have no history to fall back on and James and myself, while not old, are Vietnam vets and have seen all this crap before. Nobody argued in Desert Storm or Iragi Freedon about our supercarriers and their airpower.IMHO
WALLACE24
WALLACE24 1
They will learn. I believe there is a big black book that says there will always be wars. Lol
preacher1
preacher1 1
Definitely in the last days.
WALLACE24
WALLACE24 1
I agree 620 is wrong for the time. But if you think we have nobody to defend against I disagree. As you can see the middle east is about to explode. When Iran rattles its nuclear sword too loudly Israel will strike. And we will be right in the middle of it. Lots of bad things brewing in south america a lot closer to home. The military budget has always been huge and will remain so. It's just a question of how large. No matter what each president says in their speeches they always feel free to use them when it is in their political interest.
WALLACE24
WALLACE24 1
Let me also point out another area where we have differing opinions. Once you choose to use the sword against another country there are no civilians. The military only plays that game today because it is PC correct. When your back is to the wall you will try to defeat the enemy any way you can. That's why some of our enemies use terrorism and why we have bombed many cities in the past. There are no real rules in war.
iflyfsx
iflyfsx 1
We are going to have to disagree about that. Even in war, there are "war crimes." There are rules of engagement. There is a difference between killing an enemy soldier in the battlefield and killing unarmed civilians. War is not a blank check for all kinds of atrocities.
WALLACE24
WALLACE24 1
War in and of itself could be considered a crime. Ask any ww2 vet and he will tell you they killed anything that moved- man, woman, child. You can't send people into battle and not expect them to degenerate. There is no nice way to kill anybody. Rules of engagement are for the politics of war. We had tons of rules in Nam. We broke them routinely. Rules are a good way to get your ass killed and lose.
AWAAlum
AWAAlum 0
AWAAlum
AWAAlum 0
The "I wish" was directed towards iflyfsx's last sentence and his naivete...NOT Wallace's post. Sometimes this place slots the posts into the wrong spot.
iflyfsx
iflyfsx 1
Obviously, not all crimes will be prosecuted, but soldiers have been brought to trial and convicted. This is a fact.
Doobs
Dee Lowry 1
I would like to post the cost of "Bush Sr." Flying Air Force One from Washington to Texas 77 times. Cuz he was homesick? Anyway, we, the people paid out $13,860,000.00. for his trips home. Where did that money get us? War? Debt? Yes and Yes! At least the "Mars Mission" is accomplishing something positive. Technology that we never could have imagined! It happened! And "Curiosity" even used the "Social Network" to tell everyone that he "made it"! It's all about progress. Not to be denied. It's inevitable.
JetMech24
JetMech24 0
Its a waste of time and money. PERIOD. All the technology and intelligence and imagination that went into this thing should have gone some place more useful to us then a lifeless planet. As for the "social network" thing, it's just faked by someone sitting at a computer in Pasadena,CA. Don't be so gullable.
renegade1
M Werner 1
Unbelievable. Unfortunately their luggage got lost and will have to be shipped at a later date.
Doobs
Dee Lowry 1
Hi, Donna. This "chunka change" has put a 4G cell phone in your hand...high speed internet...GPS...back-up cameras on your car...airplanes that can take you to anywhere in the world. That's just a thumbnail of technology which, we now, take for granted. Imagine what "Curiosity" will bring into our lives. I'm curious to what the future holds. And it's because of "missions" like this, that will, in some way impact all of society. It's the new generation. I would rather see "Curiosity" do the almost impossible than to see "Obama" fly around the states on "Air Force 1" for $35,000 a plate dinners. It costs a lot to fly AF-1! Check it out.
AWAAlum
AWAAlum 1
Flying to a planet that has already been confirmed dead didn't put a 4G cell phone in my hand. Cell phones operate off of low orbit satellites. There's no correlation whatsoever. My humble opinion is let's fix our home planet and feed its people. Once all that's been accomplished, then maybe space exploration would be more palatable.
iflyfsx
iflyfsx 1
Just because you can't see the correlation, doesn't mean there isn't one. This mission to Mars required a completely new landing strategy. Which required technology that didn't exist before. Technology with all kinds of new applications, not just for going to Mars. You can't feed people by remaining ignorant and not advancing science. That's not where the money is, and that's not the right strategy that will accomplish the desired results.

Oh, and Mars has not been "confirmed dead." All we can say is, we have not found life or evidence of life so far. And we will never anything new or different, unless wee keep looking. In the meantime, we will find all kinds of unexpected amazing things. That's the way it works.
airplanefreakz
kyle dunst 0
(Duplicate Squawk Submitted)

Curiosity Touches Down on Mars!

NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover has touched down successfully and is already sending pictures back to Earth.

http://www.thirtythousand.us/2012/08/06/curiosity-touches-down-on-mars/
RobSJC
Clement [email protected] -2
Another $ 2.5 billion WASTED ... this TAX payers money should had been used to help some of the homeless in the USA
iflyfsx
iflyfsx 1
I'm sick of these ignorant comments. The entire MSL mission cost less than $1/year/person. You could not even buy every homeless person a bag of chips for the same amount of money.

Educate yourself a bit about the federal budget, and where the real waste is.
AWAAlum
AWAAlum 1
Yeah, but when you bunch it all up together, like say to create the Curiosity, it sure does add up, doesn't it. Makes me, at least, wonder, how much food that would buy, or heat, or clean water, etc., etc., etc. You, iflyfsx, may be sick of "these ignorant comments" but I must fall into the ignorant category because I have to agree with Rob. That's a huge chunk'a change.
iflyfsx
iflyfsx 1
You still don't get it. THE ENTIRE MISSION, from the original design to the landing on Mars, cost less than $1/year/person. And this has been the most expensive mission so far. Which is to say, space exploration is dirt cheap, with immeasurable benefits.

The cost of fixing the other problems you describe is hundreds and thousands of times greater, so spending this money on those problems would be the real waste, because it would make no difference.

You have no understanding of the amounts of money we are talking about, and you should, if you are a taxpayer. It's your civic responsibility. The entire 2013 budget for NASA is less than $18 billion, which is comparable to the cost of the Olympic Games ($15 billion).

The Defense budget? 620 billion.
AWAAlum
AWAAlum 0
No disrespect intended, sincerely, but you are clearly the guy who purchases a car based on what the monthly payments will be, and whether his budget can handle them, rather than being concerned with what he's actually paying for the car. In my book, no matter how you look at it $2.5 billion IS a huge HUGE amount of money to spend on a redundant mission. We've been to Mars, we've looked at Mars, we've confirmed it's a dead planet. I can't help but imagine what it would be like if as you keep pounding away at - that "$1/year/person" were spent feeding our hungry, providing clean water, etc., and saving our home - Planet Earth - wouldn't be a better way to allocate those funds. Space exploration may be an important step ... I've worked in the aerospace industry for a company that designed, built and launched rockets - I understand what it's about. However, the shape we're in today, I believe the time for that is not now.

iflyfsx
iflyfsx 1
You are still making very uninformed and narrow-minded statements. This is not a redundant mission. We will keep advancing learning new things, even if you insist on sticking your head in the sand. We've already learned a lot by designing a robot that could land by itself in a completely new way on another planet. The landing, alone, was worth the entire mission. And now we'll keep making new discoveries.

Just because we haven't found evidence of life SO FAR, it doesn't mean it's been "confirmed" there isn't any. That's completely illogical. It's completely flawed thinking. If you had been in charge of the Christopher Columbus expeditions, you would have turned back one week into the trip. "It's just water. It just keeps going. There's nothing new here, it's confirmed."

The cost of this mission to Mars was $2.5 billion OVER EIGHT YEARS. This would not have fed the poor or cleaned any water. You need a very different amount of money to have any real effect on those problems. Otherwise, you would just be wasting that money, without fixing anything. You can't feed the hungry by giving them one meal. You have to change the way they live, so they can feed themselves EVERY DAY.

Clearly, you do not understand space exploration, even if you worked at the top of the launching pad, and you definitely do not understand the cost/benefit ratios involved.
AWAAlum
AWAAlum 1
Clearly you are the only one who understands it all and no one else understands a whit unless, of course, their opinion happens to agree with yours. Don't feel the need to respond to this post - I've read everything you have to say ad nauseam.
iflyfsx
iflyfsx 1
No. Lots of people understand it. And like science itself, it's independently verifiable. It's not a matter of opinion, taste, choice or belief.

If you believed the world is flat, yes, you would be an ignorant fool, because of the mountains of evidence that contradict that "belief," not just because I would disagree with it.
JetMech24
JetMech24 0
I would STILL like that $1 dollar back and put it to better use.
iflyfsx
iflyfsx 1
Right, because *you* could find a better use for it.
JetMech24
JetMech24 0
Of course I could. A charity of my own choosing is WAY better.
conmanflyer
conmanflyer 1
I wouldn't say totally wasted. we could get some use out of the red planet eventually. I'd rather we do fullspeed ahead instead of wait 10 years before trying to do anything with mars.
StymieHo
Chris Donawho 1
Agreed Connor. These types of projects are expensive and necessary. The homeless need to be kicked in the pants a little, yes. But let's not get into the entitlement thing here. People are going to look at this as worthless... Hell, the devil invented the locomotive according to people of that time. The earth is flat... Say it's round and the Vatican will send an army of soldiers to butcher your women and children...

Our own human history shows how obtuse/stubborn we can all be. Instead, I will look forward to whatever the $2.5 billion buggy finds. We are an intelligent species. We will continue to evolve and learn to become even more intelligent.... even if it costs $2.5 billion.
iflyfsx
iflyfsx 1
Worth keeping in mind: The cost was 2.5 billion over EIGHT YEARS. This is a grain of sand in the federal budget. We are spending $44 billion/year in the so-called "intelligence" budget, with little to no accountability. We don't even know what that money is getting us.
preacher1
preacher1 -2
I hate to be a curdmudgeon, BUT, that is a whole lot of money spent that will yield very few, if any, tangible results in our life time. If NASA has to spend that kind of money, it would appear to me it would have been better spent on keeping the shuttle flying or development of an alternative method of getting back and forth to the Space tation rather than rely on the Russians for a few years until the private sector gets up with something.
IMHO
conmanflyer
conmanflyer 2
thought spaceX got that contract :p
preacher1
preacher1 1
Well I think they did, or at least part of it, BUT, how long. Russians already been flying us and will for the forseeable future. I do feel there is 2.5 billion $ that could have been spent a little more wisely. Space exploration and things like that are what I consider extras, things that you do when you got money. Last time I checked, we are basically broke and our priorities ought to be elsewhere.IMHO
AWAAlum
AWAAlum 0
If I were, oh, say $1,000,000 in debt, and went out and bought a new house, a houseful of new furniture, a 60" flat screen TV, a coupla new cars - that people would rightly say I was making bad choices. But as huge an accomplishment as Curiosity might be, why are people applauding it regardless of the cost/debt ratio? Why is it a poor choice for the private citizen to overspend, but a good choice when it's government? (I realize the oversimplification, but you get my drift.)
preacher1
preacher1 1
Catch 22. As some have said, the money stays home and we might actually get something out of it. On the other hand, as James says here below, the average American is more interested in their tax bills than what happens on Mars. This is a luxury item in many ways.
WALLACE24
WALLACE24 1
Wayne, I always suspected I was ignorant but I never dreamed I was deeply ignorant. Lol
iflyfsx
iflyfsx 1
It's only a "luxury" for people who are deeply ignorant about the relatively insignificant cost, and the incredible benefits.

http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space_exploration/benefits.html

Space exploration pays for itself several times over, so the cost is not really an issue, and the benefits are priceless.
AWAAlum
AWAAlum 1
I've been looking for a man whose philosophy is "the cost is not really an issue" ... will you marry me?
preacher1
preacher1 1
For everthing else there may be Mastercard, but that is PRICELESS. Go get him gal.LOL
WALLACE24
WALLACE24 0
Aren't we getting off topic? Sorry, couldn't resist. Good luck! Lol
WALLACE24
WALLACE24 0
Agree totally. I'm all for NASA and the space program----When we can afford it. When we can't pay our bills does not seem like the right time. The average citizen doesn't have near the interest in Mars as they do in their tax bill. :-/
blake1023
blake1023 2
and when can we afford it? The aviation industry and its future rely heavily on the space program, all the time. I.e WX, GNSS, WAAS, FAAs Next Gen, ACARS, ARINC, AirCell, EFBs, just to name a few. Which all of those create jobs for "Average citizens", so they can pay their taxes! Paying taxes is the first step so we can pay our bills!
WALLACE24
WALLACE24 2
We can afford it when it is part of a balanced budget.
StymieHo
Chris Donawho 1
Balanced Budget? What's that? I'm pushing 40 this year and I have never witnessed such a thing from our government... Perhaps the $2.5 billion rover will find one on Mars? I hope it take a really good, hi-res picture of it too. That way our politicians can study it thoroughly.
preacher1
preacher1 1
I'm a thinkin' that Clinton balanced it out, using what the 1st Bush started. He was from Arkansas and the 1st Bush was a republican. Nuff said.LOL
StymieHo
Chris Donawho 1
Damned Razorbacks!!! He said it was balanced, but it wasnt. The debt went up just like it always does. Pass a budget today, all you have to do is declare an emergency tomorrow and the millions and billions start flowing again, unaccounted in said budget.
preacher1
preacher1 1
Well, both Bushes were Texiguns. What you got to say about that!!LOL
WALLACE24
WALLACE24 1
All are good things but believe it or not airplanes and airlines actually flew without any of these things. I also doubt they are all directly attributable to NASA. If they are, wonderful. I don't think many here are against NASA at all, just questioning the timing of the expenditure. Mars is not the hot topic in social circles right now. There are several more mundane issues pressing.
JetMech24
JetMech24 1
There is a HUGE difference in putting some useful sat's into orbit and sending a robot to explore the surface of Mars that it is completely useless to us right now.
RobSJC
Clement [email protected] 0
Dr. Percy Spencer invented the first microwave oven after World War II from radar technology developed during the war. Named the 'Radarange', it was first sold in 1947. Raytheon later licensed its patents for a home-use microwave oven that was first introduced by Tappan in 1955, but these units were still too large and expensive for general home use. The countertop microwave oven was first introduced in 1967 by the Amana Corporation, which had been acquired in 1965 by Raytheon

The first known "home use" size was reported to have been used .. by USA Astromauts, to "test" before it was made available to the general public
blake1023
blake1023 0
I'd like to hear your expert opinion on these examples, WX, GNSS, FAAs Next Gen, ACARS, ARINC, AirCell, EFBs.
StymieHo
Chris Donawho 1
Momma said those things all came from happy rays of sunshine.

Meanwhile, the rest of us can actually see the light.
preacher1
preacher1 1
His "expert opinion" was made to give the full and detailed info on a post that was incorrect up above here in this thread. I made mention of the fact in one of my posts that microwave WAS NOT invented as a result of the space program and he merely followed up with the full detail. It was not unsolicited. You'll notice that someone tried to credit it to NASA but 1947 was long before there was a NASA
Doobs
Dee Lowry 0
Just try to wrap your brain around this technological marvel, "curiosity"! This is quite an accomplishment for NASA and the JPL, in Pasadena. Try to fathom the fact of the "7 minutes" of terror". Flying at the speed of 1300mph thru a very thin atmosphere and slowing the speed to 2mph for the magical landing. "Curiosity", after the brilliant landing sent a text that read, "I made it"! Show the skeptics what you've got "Curiosity"!

تسجيل الدخول

ليس لديك حساب؟ سجل الآن (مجانا) لتستمع بمميزات مخصصة، وتنبيهات الرحلات، وغير ذلك الكثير!
هل علمت بأن خاصية تتبع الرحلة التابعة لـFlightAware مدعومة بواسطة الإعلانات؟
يمكنك مساعدتنا بالإبقاء على موقع FlightAware مجاني بدون مقابل من خلال السماح بالإعلانات من موقع FlightAware.com. نحن نعمل بكل كد لجعل إعلاناتنا ملائمة ومناسبة وأن تكون هذه الإعلانات غير ملحوظة من أجل إنشاء تجربة رائعة. يمكن بكل سرعة وسهولة السماح لـإعلانات القائمة البيضاء الموجودة على FlightAware، أو الرجاء مراجعة الحسابات المميزة الخاصة بنا.
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