NASA says it will fly a Canadian to the Moon:
NASA just struck a historic deal with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) that will entail, for the first time in history, a non-US astronaut orbiting the Moon.
The agreement says that the CSA will help NASA with its upcoming Artemis Moon missions in exchange for a seat on some of the flights, according to Space.com. Not only is the CSA's support good news for the Artemis missions specifically, but it's a major international development in the future of crewed space exploration.
[...] "This will make Canada only the second country after the U.S. to have an astronaut in deep space... and send the first Canadian around the Moon," Navdeep Bains, Canada's government minister of innovation, science and industry said at a Wednesday press conference, according to Space.com.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 23 2020, @04:05PM (3 children)
Will they bring him back?
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday December 23 2020, @06:26PM (1 child)
If the Canadian is polite, maybe.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Wednesday December 23 2020, @08:24PM
So, probably.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday December 23 2020, @07:13PM
Her name is Alice... POW! BAM! ZING!
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by turgid on Wednesday December 23 2020, @05:03PM (25 children)
Isn't it?
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 3, Funny) by barbara hudson on Wednesday December 23 2020, @05:10PM (3 children)
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2) by turgid on Wednesday December 23 2020, @08:35PM (2 children)
To me, when Canadians say "about" it sounds like "abouwt" not "aboot" but that's because I'm Scottish and we say "aboot" but without the "w" sound that creeps in when Canadians say it. Canada looks like a very nice place and I'd like to visit some day.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 24 2020, @03:19AM (1 child)
It's regional. Heavily, heavily regional. Think about it: We've got more land area than even you do. Does someone from nebraska sound like someone from SoCal or someone from jersey?
What most of you think of as the "canadian" accent is eastern canada, primarily ontario. Expecting all of us to sound like that is like us expecting all of you to be trump supporters and have a drawling twang.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 24 2020, @05:42AM
Clear your mind for a second of your Little Brother complex vs. America and re-read to whom you are replying: the guy is from SCOTLAND.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Freeman on Wednesday December 23 2020, @05:39PM (20 children)
I get the sarcasm, but the number of people who've actually gone to the Moon is very small. I would expect there to be a much more diverse (culturally) set of people that will make it this time around. Whereas it was essentially a bunch of white military dudes that went last time, because it's just been that long since we actually visited the Moon.
The last time we visited the moon:
Elvis Presley was still alive.
The Miami Dolphins had yet to have the only perfect season in the history of the NFL.
The USA was still at war in Vietnam.
Pink Floyd's: The Dark Side of the Moon had not yet been released.
The World Trade Center had yet to open.
Pablo Picasso was still alive.
Secretariat had yet to win "The Triple Crown".
The DEA did not exist.
Bruce Lee was still alive.
Aerosmith had yet to release their debut album.
O. J. Simpson was just another football player.
Apple and Microsoft did not exist.
The founders of Google had yet to be born.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 23 2020, @05:42PM (17 children)
And we're going there because....?
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday December 23 2020, @05:59PM (2 children)
Rich white dudes think it's a good idea. Also, space is cool.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 23 2020, @06:19PM
Ah ok, nostalgia.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 24 2020, @02:58AM
Damn near absolute zero if you're not in the sun!
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday December 23 2020, @07:05PM
LunarMax
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 23 2020, @07:53PM (11 children)
It's obvious that space is the next great frontier. Unlimited land, unlimited resources, unlimited technological discoveries just waiting to be discovered, and much much more - the least of which not being the safeguarding of our species itself. The only reason for not pursuing space is some form of "We could instead spend that money on [x]."
Yet, look at the history of our species. The one thing that has elevated people more than anything else has been technology + expansion. We live in a world today where a major problem for those in poverty is extreme obesity. People in times past where actually starving to death was a very real and present danger would imagine we're in some sort of utopia. Of course we're not, but it's so easy to take for granted how unimaginably far humanity has advanced.
But the most interesting thing is that these results have not come from the countless efforts to e.g. "solve poverty" but primarily just as ancillary benefits as our entire species evolves and develops. There are endless paradoxes of a similar nature. We didn't finally see world peace between developed nations because of the literal centuries of efforts to achieve it, but because we developed weapons so unimaginably lethal that war become simply unwinnable. "I want world peace, so let's all create weapons that can millions of people at once!" said nobody, ever. Going to space will ultimately achieve not only [x] but unimaginably more.
The real question is why we're taking so long. We had plans for Mars colonization as far back as the 60s. And we probably could have achieved it had it we tried. And today we might even be looking at things like building the first multi-generational ships destined for interstellar travel. Instead we're sitting here in a country that's arguably starting to implode all while mostly failing at tasks (like getting beyond low earth orbit) that we achieved in the 60s in less than a decade.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 23 2020, @08:42PM (3 children)
Quoth the parent:
'The only reason for not pursuing space is some form of "We could instead spend that money on [x]."'
The ONLY reason? How about other planets have no breathable atmosphere, no water, no food, temperatures deadly to life, pressures (or lack thereof) incompatible with life, deadly radiation due to lack of magnetosphere, corrosive chemistry, only a few planets have a solid surface to stand on, etc.
Do you even science, bro?
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday December 23 2020, @09:45PM (2 children)
I grant that space is hard. We do hard things. You'll need a better class of problem.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 24 2020, @05:51AM (1 child)
Living on the continent of Antarctica is trivial and an absolute paradise compared to any other planet or moon in the solar system, yet it is to this day UNINHABITED (outside of a handful of scientists and supporting technicians on very temporary duty).
Ask yourself, why?
(Score: 2) by Socrastotle on Thursday December 24 2020, @09:50AM
Even better than asking yourself, ask me! Because the reasons for this are probably not what you think. The most fundamental reason is that the Antarctic Treaty System [wikipedia.org] that specifically prevent doing anything whatsoever on Antarctica. It is literally illegal to take a piss on Mars. It's required to recovered, packaged, and then sent back for processing away from Antarctica. Any form of development or industrialization on Antarctica is explicitly illegal.
And in many ways Antarctica is, contrary to intuition, not an especially great place to develop (even if it were legal) relative to somewhere like Mars. The obvious issue with Mars is that it has an unbreatheable atmosphere alongside high radiation exposure. But this can be summed up pretty simply: "If you go outside on Mars without proper equipment, or if your equipment fails while outside, you will die." The reason I frame it in this way is because the exact same is also true in Antarctica. Of course the technology involved in the equipment is different, but the issue is no different in either place.
But beyond that issue Mars is better in just about every way. Mars is bizarrely similar to Earth in its seasonal and day-night cycle owing to a number of improbable, but fortunate coincidences. During the summer near the equator on Mars you're even looking at right balmy conditions hitting around 70 degrees. Of course the nights are quite cold, but about the same as winter in Antarctica. By contrast Antarctica has an infamously brutal and never-ending night during winter. Another major strength for Mars is weather. Antarctica has a pretty brutal climate and weather system that is subject to extreme, and sudden, conditions. By contrast the weather on Mars is extremely calm and consistent.
One of the most interesting aspects of this is in "The Martian." The Martian is a hard sci-fi book where the author made every effort to create a scientifically accurate text. The main event that triggers the catastrophe and consequent happenings in the book is a strong dust storm that knocks out the base facilities and sets everything in motion. Interestingly enough this is one of the very few things in that book that was intentionally faked. The strongest dust storm on Mars would feel like a slight breeze owing to the lower atmospheric pressure. Think about that for a minute. In a hard sci-fi book, the author had to resort to fantasy in order to create a disaster on Mars - and that's perfectly understandable given the nature of Mars.
Mars also has vast mineral resources and without doubt immense scientific treasures we've yet to discover. It also has a land mass that is near identical to that of Earth (land, not ocean). Antarctica by contrast has very little and is relatively very small to say nothing of how inaccessible much of what land that exists is due to a mixture of geographic inhospitability paired alongside the extreme weather events. Anyhow, I could go on and on, but this is probably already a scattered enough stream of consciousness that I'm trying to keep somewhat brief. Suffice to say that our intuition often tends to mislead us on complex topics. And this is no exception!
(Score: 5, Touché) by FatPhil on Wednesday December 23 2020, @10:12PM (3 children)
No resources worth mentioning either, with the empasis on *worth*. The only resources that are out there are, unless there are asteroids of once-pure technetium, are resources we already have right under out feet. Then again, we have no need for technetium in large quantities, so even that would be useless.
But sure, burn a zillion tonnes of fuel in order to go and find a diamond the size of your fist if you think that's advancing humanity, just don't expect the sane to approve.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by Socrastotle on Thursday December 24 2020, @03:05PM (2 children)
Okay, I suspect this is some sort of a reference. But I don't pop culture so well, so I'm going to take it at face value, because this topic is way too much fun. This [businessinsider.com] is San Francisco before it was developed. San Francisco is now one of the most valued places in to live in the world, in terms of real estate prices. But before development it was a barren wasteland that doesn't really look so different than a place like this [nasa.gov].
As for resources, there are two motivations.
#1) Asteroid mining. One of the most recently discovered asteroids is 16 Psyche [littleastronomy.com]. It's about the size of West Virginia yet made almost entirely of metal. Its estimated value is enough to literally make every human on Earth a billionaire. Of course that is a meaningless statement because that asteroid would crash the market for nearly all metals (after making the initial sellers unimaginably wealthy). And that is a phenomenal thing. As the price of metals plummets and scarcity of any sort becomes a thing of the past, it opens the door for even more unimaginable things we can achieve as a species. In the longrun we can even begin to consider things like Dyson Swarms which could also render energy itself a near infinite and near free resource. Space is how we will ultimately become a post-scarcity species.
#2) Planetary resources. When I speak of resources on places like Mars I don't really mean to extract them for profit. Rather the goal for Mars is to eventually become another self sustaining civilization. And those immense mineral resources are a critical component of this. The resources on Mars ensure that once a colony is successfully established - there will be essentially unlimited room for growth.
And on the sane not approving? Now there I fully agree with you! If we measured the validity of actions by popular consensus we'd all still be living in the plains of Africa running around throwing rocks and pointy sticks at each other! Africa is lush, comfortable, and has all you need to live a pleasant life with relatively minimal dangers. Look at the amazing natural beauty (and resources) of places like Liberia. [myworldshots.com] Who in their right mind would have ever wanted to give that up to wander off into completely unpopulated areas with freezing temperatures, far less natural resources, and that just generally do their best to kill you. Well, our ancestors for one. Colonization and technological revolution has never been for everyone and never will be. The sane approve of the present, while the insane choose to create the future. Suum cuique.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Friday December 25 2020, @01:51AM
I will applaud NASA when it brings back 200g of iron from this asteroid, instantly making everyone a gazillionaire.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 26 2020, @11:37AM
The sane look to the past before planning for the future. From your post follows that at least this much you understand. Then comes the part where either you're trying to make the case that you are clearly insane, a moron or a liar. Please clarify which point you were trying to make.
Hint: history did not stop after humans (or hominids) got out of Africa. Read up on it, there's a lesson or two in it that may even save your ass in the future you so much wish for.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 24 2020, @12:57PM (1 child)
Uh, great post, but the world is definitely not at peace. There are no more direct military conflicts between a select few nations - 9 nuclear armed states with ~45-50% of the world population.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 24 2020, @03:19PM
Yip, indeed. That is why I added that little keyword "developed" nations. It's really just a euphemism for nuclear, yet even with that restriction it's been an incredibly positive thing. We have liked killed hundreds of thousands to millions of people in the Mideast in completely unjustified aggression, but even such activities in no way even compare to what war once was. During WW2 about 3% of the entire world's population was killed. To scale that up to modern times that'd be the equivalent of 234 million people dying in 6 years, or about 40 million people per year.
There's actually a really nice way to understand such a stupidly large number. There have been about 80 million people who've gotten COVID this year and the mortality rate for people under the age of 65 is less than 1%. [acsh.org] In fact it's less than 0.06% for people under the age of 40. Now instead, imagine the COVID mortality rate was 50% and half of everybody that ever got the disease this year ended up dying from it. It's difficult to even imagine that scale of loss and suffering, yet that is what war used to be like and instead of lasting for a couple of years, as most plagues do, it lasted for more than half a decade.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 26 2020, @10:14AM
You are one of these asshats who will happily ignite a weapon with implications that even those who built it don't yet fully understand. Calculations show a non-negligable possibility that it might start runaway conflagration of the planet's atmosphere? Well fuck *those* people, I'll be in a bunker when it goes off.
Can't get bogged down by details now, need to win this war. FOR WORLD PEACE111!!
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday December 24 2020, @04:36AM
Because Elvis Presley isn't dead and there's hope to make DEA obsolete.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 2, Funny) by nitehawk214 on Wednesday December 23 2020, @08:28PM
That's why they landed on the light side of the moon.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 25 2020, @01:49AM
Lizard people, Illuminati, etc.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 23 2020, @05:29PM (12 children)
Canada has a space agency?
(Score: 4, Informative) by barbara hudson on Wednesday December 23 2020, @05:37PM (10 children)
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday December 23 2020, @05:42PM (8 children)
Until you said something, I would have likely said, someone in the USA . . .
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 3, Funny) by Gaaark on Wednesday December 23 2020, @06:12PM (7 children)
We built the robotic arm so we could extend our reach into the fridge for another beer, eh!
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday December 23 2020, @07:09PM (6 children)
Can the thing even lift a beer?
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday December 23 2020, @09:48PM (1 child)
In microgravity?
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 23 2020, @11:09PM
Is it a microbrew?
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Thursday December 24 2020, @03:30AM (3 children)
The Hubble masses over 11,000 kg. Now add a couple of astronauts in their gear, some spare parts, tools … while it's "weightless", it's not massless, so moving it takes work.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday December 24 2020, @05:11AM (2 children)
Read it again. I wanna see it lift a beer out of the fridge. I wanna see it lift itself off the blocks
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Saturday December 26 2020, @05:22AM (1 child)
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Saturday December 26 2020, @05:55AM
We're not in the shuttle. Please, start from the beginning of the thread
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 24 2020, @12:16AM
I did for the longest time because I thought that's what they were calling it until I found out they were actually saying "Canuck Claws."
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Wednesday December 23 2020, @06:31PM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Space_Agency#Canadian_space_program [wikipedia.org]
It has a number of satellites, collaborates with other space agencies, and has been heavily involved with the International Space Station since the beginning. It is also on board with the Lunar Gateway project.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1) by hemocyanin on Wednesday December 23 2020, @07:09PM (2 children)
Lends new meaning to "Take Off, Eh!"
Can't believe not yet posted even after the McKenzie brother's reference above.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 23 2020, @07:35PM (1 child)
I got your reference... damn, everybody on this board is old.
Let's squeeze a Cheech and Chong joke in there about the rocket blazing off the pad in a puff of purple smoke.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 23 2020, @10:01PM
Hoser.
(Score: 2) by Socrastotle on Wednesday December 23 2020, @08:02PM (4 children)
NASA
China
SpaceX
Other?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 23 2020, @09:10PM (3 children)
You misspelled Chynah.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 23 2020, @09:56PM (2 children)
You misspelled "jī′nə"
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday December 23 2020, @10:23PM (1 child)
That symbol doesn't mean what you think it means. That's a long latvian (short) 'i'. Phonetically best rendered in AIPA as /i:/.
The sound you're attempting to render is a glide (or a diphthong), best rendered in AIPA as /ai/.
And your 'j' is right out.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 24 2020, @05:56AM
His representation is commonly used in English dictionaries and elementary schools to represent English pronunciation and has been for many, many decades, predating the International Phonetic Alphabet.
You can't be that dense.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 24 2020, @12:26AM (1 child)
curling in space!
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Thursday December 24 2020, @03:33AM
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 1) by isocelated on Thursday December 24 2020, @09:04PM
something something tim horton's and maple syrup on da moon.