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SpaceX capsule and NASA crew make 1st splashdown in 45 years

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By MARCIA DUNN

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Open the pod door, Elon.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Gotta love that kid - 'Hurry home so we can go get my dog.'

2 ( +2 / -0 )

As glad as I am to see so many Space X successes and no injuries, I sure wish all that money, effort, fuel and time were used to tackle things like world hunger, oppression and war.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

I would love to go to the ISS...until I watched that splashdown.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"As glad as I am to see so many Space X successes and no injuries, I sure wish all that money, effort, fuel and time were used to tackle things like world hunger, oppression and war."

The Sun, like all stars, will not remain in what is called its "Main Phase" forever. As it converts hydrogen into helium the Sun will slowly grow hotter and make the Earth uninhabitable. Eventually the all the hydrogen is fused into helium and the Sun will rapidly expand into a red giant. Its diameter will grow past the orbits of Mercury, Venus and probably Earth. Earth will either be re-melted and incinerated or pulled into the expanding Sun by its gravity. The only future mankind has is to become a multi-planet species. To do that we must master space travel over great distances. There is no time like the present to begin.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

The only future mankind has is to become a multi-planet species. To do that we must master space travel over great distances. 

The human race will have destroyed itself - whether by war, overpopulation, disease or destruction of the environment - long before the Sun starts to do a wobbly.

We need to learn to look after the planet we have before we think of travelling out to infest other planets.

I agree that there is no time like the present - to begin getting our own house in order.

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The Earth is a death trap.

As with any long journey, it begins with the first step. Many of us recognize that first step is happening in our lifetimes. That's an amazing place to be in history.

Even if the worst case environmental stuff happens, humans will survive somewhere on Earth for thousands of more years. Those people need to get off this rock so the species survives.

With SpaceX, they have a clear, stated, goal. This is different from politicians. That goal is to land humans on Mars and they are working towards it.

NASA projects have pushed technology forward to be smaller, lighter, more energy efficient. Many are frivolous like cell phones, which are 99+% for convenience.

Efficient Solar panels - NASA. They are 14-20% efficient now, when for the prior 150 yrs, they were 1-6% efficient. Unfortunately, solar power works less and less well over distance from the source. On Mars, a panel of X m^2 makes about 50% less power than on Earth.

Integrated computers - NASA. TI (1958) -- Intel (1961) -- NASA Apollo computers. In 1963, NASA was buying over 60% of all integrated circuits produced in the world.

Digital Cameras - NASA. CMOS camera sensors are a JPL idea.

Some very important planetary science is possible today thanks to NASA. We know that 50% of the oxygen in the world comes from the oceans, not trees thanks to a NASA program that has run for decades.

Remember how weather forecasting was done before satellites - there was a "Farmers Almanac", moon cycles, radio and telephones. Moon cycles are very important to some natural cyclic events.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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