What a Twat....

[Uncle Gizmo]

SpaceX Mars City: Werner Herzog issues a stark warning to Elon Musk

In a new interview, legendary director Werner Herzog explains why Elon Musk's plan to build a city on Mars is an "obscenity."

www.inverse.com

 

[The_Doc_Man]

One man's opinion: Werner Herzog is correct now but for the wrong reason. We do not have the technology to "lift" that much engineering equipment to Mars and unless there is a propulsion and energy source breakthrough, the 2050 date proposed by Elon Musk is unreasonable.

With cheaper, more reliable engines to take us to Mars and bring construction equipment with us, colonizing Mars would make more sense. But until we can get ships to reliable go out into the asteroid belt and beyond, the problem on Mars will be Man's need for potable water. On the day that we can send a ship to Saturn to drag some of the icebergs from the rings and drop them onto the surface of Mars... then we will be ready to try to colonize the red planet.

And, of course, see if we can find Deejah Thoris. But only if you are a reader of Edgar Rice Burroughs.

 

[Isaac]

Why do we want to colonize mars? Elon Musk sometimes annoys me. Like those people on Shark Tank with "a solution looking for a problem".

Surely, the problems faced by Earth are not insignificant. Then of course, the idea of permanently living on another planet involves its own (very) costly set of challenges that must be solved, day-in and day-out, month after month.

Does anyone really believe that the challenges of colonizing a new planet are less than to just live here on earth? Why does anyone want to spend resources on this?

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

Why does anyone want to spend resources on this?

It's not costing anyone anything. it's making Elon Musk loads of money, it's a business.

 

[Isaac]

Oh - Elon's for-profit company is going to pay for it for us? That's the part I didn't know.

 

[AccessBlaster]

Why do we want to colonize mars?

Well eventually we will have another extinction event, at that point we will have to wait hundreds of years for the next Elon.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Why do we want to colonize mars?

It's an advanced form of "survival of the species" for lack of a better description.

 

[Jon]

An insurance policy. The real expansion will be with machines, since they can travel infinite distances over vast timescales, unlike organic life form. When we reach a certain distance from the Earth, we become aliens, since we inhabit others territory!

Ultimately, the universe will become heavily populated with these machines because they can survive in inhospitable climates and travel distances no organic life form would survive.

[Edit: Mankind has explored everything since the beginning of time. It is just continuing what we have always done.]

 

[Isaac]

I don't know, I'm hearing a lot about what we are doing but not much about why it makes sense. But I suppose it is pretty exciting after all

 

[AccessBlaster]

Maybe we have solved all the problems on earth and we are looking for new problems to solve.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

I'm hearing a lot about what we are doing but not much about why it makes sense.

You look at USA politics and then wonder why something doesn't make sense? You listen to modern "angry rap" and want to find sense in it? You look at modern non-mainstream art and you want it to make sense?

If you REALLY want to hear about human endeavors that don't make sense, listen to Robin Williams in his thickest Scottish accent, acting as the guy who is inventing the game of golf.

 

[Jon]

We need to boldly go where no man has gone before.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Actually, Star Trek: The Next Generation changed that tag line to be more politically correct: Where no ONE has gone before.

I say that, not to be politically correct, but to be CANONICALLY correct as a true Trekker.

 

[Minty]

Technically, It really should have been : Where no Entity from Starfleet has gone before.

As assuming something else was already wherever they ended up, the statement fails...

#Pedant#

 

[Jon]

Yes, everything has gone way too PC nowadays. Even Doctor Who turned into a woman in the UK!

[I understand that Doctor Who was not assigned a gender, but please, lets not go there! Nor are many characters you see in movies.]

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Ah, Minty, but those encounters were part of the fun.

#pissant#

 

[Dick7Access]

Manifest Destiny

Why did George Mallory climb Mount Everest?

“Many years ago the great British explorer George Mallory — who was to die on Mount Everest — was asked why did he climb it. He said, ‘Because it is there.’ Well, space is there, and we’re going to climb it. And the moon and planets are there.



Victor Vescovo Used Millions Of His Own Money To Set World Depth Record

I guess I have the same drive for exploration. So far I have explored 1,026 restaurants. Some good Cajon ones, right Doc.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

You have indeed, Dick. Although believe or not, the one you visited with me wasn't Cajun. That family was Italian. But they've been here long enough for the style to have "rubbed off" on them.

 

[kevlray]

Mine the metals from Mars. Send the raw materials on a slow (unmanned) ship back to earth to crash somewhere to be processed.

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

Casey Handmer has a Blog where he discusses many of the issues on Musks attempt to go to Mars:-

Casey Handmer's blog

Space, Travel, Technology, 3D Printing, Energy, Writing

caseyhandmer.wordpress.com