NASA spacecraft lands on Mars

How exciting. I wish I was on board. What a testament to the spirit that they can construct a spacecraft that can visit Mars. Reading news like this thrills me much more than watching any science fiction movie.

I am not an anti-Nasa type of person, but why isn't there more effort going to explain the world we live in right now? I mean, they are trying to obtain info on whether water exists there or not. Well, what if they do fid water, what are they going to do, bring it back?

Trying to find life? What happens when they do? Are they going to bring that back?

One reason I loved the movie the Abyss, was that it should another form of life on earth, that we never knew about.. I still believe there are species of animals and plants, and fish that we know nothing about.

As for landing on mars, I am sure in due time, we can teach robots to build robots remotely and move on from there.

$420 million threw in to the space. Money that they can use to clean the earth pollution. Money that they can use for education. Money that they can use for helping countries that need help.

good job of course. An astonishing feat, but given the level of illiteracy in the States, would it not be more prevalent to put 420mil into education???

Money that they can use for helping countries that need help.

Yes, including the US. They are in great need of this money.

Congrats to NASA on the first successful "soft landing" on Mars since the Viking missions. Robotic missions such as Viking and Phoenix are much more cost-effective than the manned orbital missions it devotes so much of its resournces on.

$420 million spent on a project that would have been an impossible dream a few generations ago. $420 million that is going to inspire more young people than you can imagine to dream what was once thought impossible, possible. Our destiny isn't just confined to this little third rock from the sun it's in our core as human beings to go out and explore.

Money well spent in search of answers of questions that we have asked of ourselves since we became self-aware thousands of years ago , What is really out there?

Looks like we are going to find a little more out. Impressive feat NASA.

" Money that they can use for helping countries that need help." "Yes, including the US. They are in great need of this money."

You know what, that really is not a far off statement!

I just donot get any of this. Sending spacecrafts to Mars explorers to Pluto and with all this technology they can not, or is it , "they do not want alternative enery sources"???

This is a sham by our leaders and governments!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well done, NASA. Pretty inspiring stuff.

What a waste!

As another poster stated, this $420 million could have been far better spent on education, specifically of sons, daughters and grandkids of people like Sailwind and other posters who think this mission was somehow "worth it."

It just goes to show how up the whack the U.S. government's priorities are if it spends money like this to put machinery into space when increasing numbers of Americans on the ground are sinking into poverty.

As my Dad used to say - when it comes to responsible spending, make 2 lists:

1 titled 'Need to Buy', the other titled 'Nice to have.'

This Mars mission is definitely in the latter.

Sailwind - "it's in our core as human beings to go out and explore."

Sorry my friend, I beg to differ.

Priorities first please - there are large numbers of your countrymen who are right now living in poverty.

You think it's wise to spend $420 million to send a bit of metal to Mars while Americans go hungry?

Why???

http://www.thespaceplace.com/nasa/spinoffs.html

Learn something new today.

As a side note, it must have been hard for the boys in Tucson at the University of Arizona to stomach a rover named Phoenix since Tucson and Phoenix are pretty big rival cities. Oh all the names they could have chosen...

Heh. Pretty damned amazing. I always get inspired to see the Americans going back to their creative roots...

Good job fella's.

You think it's wise to spend $420 million to send a bit of metal to Mars while Americans go hungry?

Why???

Oh, the horror of spending $420 million to send a bit a metal to Mars to discover if the place has the stuff that could possibly be made hospitable enough in the future to support Human habitation. Boy, think of how many jobs that would create and the technology involved in that one. But Sushi is right better spend that money on welfare cases on earth that never seem to go away. After all the money wasted in sending those primitive satellites in the early sixties we should have learned better how space exploration doesn't benefit us or create new technology that would amaze a person from the sixties today. Boy, a long distance phone call in the early sixties cost an arm and a leg, now you have cellphones bouncing off satellites allowing anybody on the planet from anywhere to communicate with each other. I would say millions of new jobs that never existed was created just from flinging a chunk of metal into space on that one alone.

Or that man on the moon waste of cash, heck got nothing out that one other than to prove we could move beyond the earth and take the first timid steps into the unknown as part of all mankind. Yeah that waste that brought the planet ever closer actually seeing that we truly are one global community.

Just think Sushi maybe one day Mars will be terraform'd into that 'kumbaya' socialist paradise those who would rather spend the cash on earth have failed to achieve after spending billions of dollars on the wasted effort as it is.

Rocket Science.

Nobody does it better.

"But Sushi is right better spend that money on welfare cases on earth that never seem to go away."

Heh, far better spending it on the social cases to actually encourage them to breed as they are so useful to society! I'l never understand the socialist.

I'd rather see the Americans spending wads of cash doing what they were once so good at, innovation, than seeing them waste enormous amounts of money elsewhere on no brainer's.

I hope they get a video of the Martians. Aaack!

2007 Worldwide Space Revenue: $251 billion

An annual assessment of global space industry has tallied up the total size of the space industry in 2007 to be $251 Billion, an 11% increase from 2006. This increase is amidst tight budgets and declining economies world wide. It is clear that the space industry is growing larger, even while the US space program barely keeps up with inflation.

Incredile piece of work. Continues the spirit of innovation and exploration. Understanding possible signs of life in Mars is getting closer.

Great, another little step into the Universe.

For "earthen minds" ;) there are two more "cash wasters" to be angry with: SLHC and JET - comparing to them $450M is nothing.

If there is water there may be life. If there is life there may be terrorists. If you cut NASA funding you are supporting the terrorists.

Sailwind - "Or that man on the moon waste of cash, heck got nothing out that one other than to prove we could move beyond the earth and take the first timid steps into the unknown as part of all mankind. Yeah that waste that brought the planet ever closer actually seeing that we truly are one global community."

I hear you, but exactly what real benefits did that bring to Mankind besides some cutesy photos of how round our Earth is and the discovery that mice can't play on a mouse wheel in zero gravity??

Did space travel find a cure to any major diseases, social or economic problems that you know of?

So, if it didn't, then why not spend that odd billion or 6 on solving problems here on Earth - where you and I live - instead of burning it all up to send piles of metal up into space, let alone all the way to Mars where - wow! - they's just found out has lots of rocks.

Thinking space travel is somehow a good way to spend taxes is probably justified......if you have trainwreck priorities.

hudagree - "Continues the spirit of innovation and exploration. Understanding possible signs of life in Mars is getting closer."

Contining on from my powerful rebuff of Sailwind's comments, does the "spirit of innovation" that sent Man going to solve the current food crisis we have right now here on Earth?

No.

Will it put a stop to terrorism?

Nope.

Will it find a solution to climate change?

No.

So, why burn up $251 billion?

Sushi,

Would you drive a Trabant? Even if it where on Mars?

Madverts, I probably wouldn't, even if it was on Mars and had a beer fridge full of free Asahi.

Hey, a full beer fridge in a Trabant on Mars gets my vote.

And you think it's not worth spending the money to explore?

What if the liquid suggested under the surface of Mars turns out to be BEER?

Watching my good friends here on JT struggling to justify the massive wasted expense of sending man and machine into orbit is not dissimilar to watching someone trying to nail jelly to a wall...

"the massive wasted expense of sending man and machine into orbit"

Without which Sushi could not send his messages all over the planet from his computer for us to enjoy. xD

Ummmm your quote

Contining on from my powerful rebuff of Sailwind's comments, does the "spirit of innovation" that sent Man going to solve the current food crisis we have right now here on Earth?

No.

Think it already did, goodness news weather satellites have improved crop yields all over the planet the past 30 years and will help solve this also.

Will it put a stop to terrorism?

Nope.

Agreed, will it limit where the terrorists think they can hide? Think you can say yes on that one as far as how Osama can't show his face in public without getting blasted.

Will it find a solution to climate change?

No.

Think climate change could even be verified without space tech? Yup, Sushi your pet cause and prove brought to you by NASA.

So, why burn up $251 billion?

So you can post easier than you you could in the past?

LOL. Feel the envy. Glad I'm not anywhere near some of the guilty here. I need a frickin space suit and helmet to protect me.

As a side note, it must have been hard for the boys in Tucson at the University of Arizona to stomach a rover named Phoenix since Tucson and Phoenix are pretty big rival cities. Oh all the names they could have chosen...""

Superlib,

NASA gets to use Phoenix, Tuscon was already taken by Hyundai.

There are many things we use in our daily lives called "spinoffs" that are a direct result from the space program. Ambition?? Innovation?? You bet. Congrats NASA!

sailwind - "goodness news weather satellites have improved crop yields all over the planet the past 30 years."

No they haven't. Weather satellites don't improve crop yields - good seeds, greenhouses, pesticides, scarecrows and good luck with the weather improve crop yields.

"will it limit where the terrorists think they can hide? Think you can say yes on that one as far as how Osama can't show his face in public without getting blasted."

But OBL is STILL out there on the run, despite there being hundreds of U.S. spy satellites hunting to get him.

Which just goes to further cement my point about what a crock of use all that tech and putting the satellites into space has been.

I'll give you the one about climate change though.

But still, satellites and sending men and mice to Mars isn't going to solve that problem either because hey, the problem and the solution are down here on Earth, and spending untold billions on Mars missions isn't going to get us any closer to solving it.

Sheesh, for all the good the space missions have been, you may as well fill Appollo with hundred dollar bills, shoot it off into space and let it completely burn up on re-entry......

I cannot believe some people believe it's a total waste to explore beyond what we see. They would still believe the earth is still flat if it weren't for daring individuals. Congrats to NASA and I feel sorry for those who have no imagination.

sailwind - bravo!

sushisake3 - can't you dream...just a little.

Funny thing is that some of the pro-space travel posters have come up with words like 'dreams,' 'voayages of discovery, and stuff like that.

Hardball reality says we need more than dreams, and let's try focusing on Earth first before we start contemplating opening Starbucks on Mars.

Kawasaki54 - "Congrats to NASA and I feel sorry for those who have no imagination."

Let's stay grounded.....no imagination? We need imagination, and lots of it, to solve problems down here on Earth first before we should be utilizing imagination for anything off the planet.

SuperLib - no need for a hug, thanks. I think some posters need a refreshing dose of reality before they start suggesting giving out hugs.

Bottom line: we've got enough problems here on Earth without spending billions putting mice and potplants into space.

Sushi, I just don't agree. Loads of innovation and useful stuff came off the back of the clever people at NASA.

Even velcro I'm led to believe.

Even velcro I'm led to believe.

An urban legend:

http://www.velcro.co.uk/cms/History.6.0.html?&L=0

Though some things that were created courtesy of NASA innovations include:

Water purification technology;

Kidney dialysis machines;

CAT scanners, and;

Cordless power tools

RR

I stand corrected, Ramen.

Aside from satisfying natural curiosity about the universe and man's place in in it, space exploration has led to discoveries that provide us insight into Earth's past, possible future(s) and present day climate challenges. I think there's a good case to me made that private, voluntary organizations like The Planetary Society could/should play a larger role in the financing of space exploration but I think government stil has a role. I would like to see white elephants like the International Space Station abandoned to fund more robotic missions like the Phoenix spacecraft.

To piggyback on Sailwind's earlier post, space travel and satellite technology has saved hundreds of thousands of lives. As devastating as Hurricane Katrina was, imagine the lives lost if we wouldn't have been able to warn New Orleans in advance. Without satellite technology, forecasting the weather is extremely difficult, especially when trying to forecast sea state, which is critical when it comes to keeping Sailors and the cargo they carry safe.

Way to go NASA .

Taka

Some fun stats for Sushisake and the other neo-Luddites - we'll skip past the obvious benefits of the space program which others have already covered, e.g. weather and telecom satellites

In 2006 the US spent $6 billion on manned space flight, and $154 billion on alcohol, so cutting back on that sake might be a better way to spread the wealth.

The ROI on space expenditures is about 8:1 in the US, and a lot of that return is going back into education, not to mention the fact that space makes a lot of kids go all starry-eyed and want to stay in school, or go on to become scientists and engineers.

Others have covered the "it's in our nature to explore" argument but that doesn't seem to have worked - would you be okay with cutting arts and music funding since they also don't contribute anything meaningful and that money could be better spent on education and feeding the poor? Personally I don't

Unmanned space exploration like Phoenix is just one aspect of scientific research which is done for its own sake, simply to expand our knowledge, and we don't really know where that knowledge will lead. The results of Phoenix's mission will give us a better understanding of planetary climatology, which I'm pretty sure will have some benefit to climatology here on Earth, but the best part is all of the stuff which we can't even imagine and remains to be discovered. You'd turn your back on that, when such discoveries could and will do far more to better the human condition than retreating into a shell.

$420 million threw in to the space. Money that they can use to clean the earth pollution. Money that they can use for education. Money that they can use for helping countries that need help.

Ugg. Comments like these annoy me because they are always used against any type of exploration or basic science. Not all research needs to be analyzed by bean counters to determine if it will have immediate practical benefit.

This is the type of logic that would have said that Newton was wasting his time and that the voyages of Columbus were too expensive. It is also the type of logic that would have said that sending balloons up to measure the chemical composition of the upper atmosphere (such as the ozone layer) was too expensive.

Considering that we live in the age of science, you would think that people would have a more open mind. All of our great technologies today are based on research by people who expected no practical benefit from their work, from Galileo to Faraday to J. J. Thomson. They did it purely for curiosity. And there is nothing wrong with that.

It is a myth that you can know the benefits of a course of research before it is completed. If you already knew the results, why would you need to perform the research?

Burzum,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth_Society

Preaching to the un-converted mate.

I know this cost a lot of money but the photos are amazing.

Coming up in future, we may be bringing back MARS soil, for testing back here on earth.

These projects are very good for future drone automatic aerospace technology/communication tech/solar tech /robotics tech/satellite tech.

This project could inspire future, Space sci-fiction type hollywood movie industry projects.

These new tech could also be of use to automatic undersea drone for undersea resource mining.

More of this tech should be used to spread prosperity/peace on earth.