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posted by
martyb
on Wednesday June 08 2016, @09:17AM
from the build-a-space-elevator-on-the-moon dept.
from the build-a-space-elevator-on-the-moon dept.
NASA seems hell bent to go to Mars, but can't afford to on its own.
Its international partners have no stomach for that — they would would rather return to our moon and build a base there for further exploration.
Doesn't going back to the moon make more sense? Build a base on the moon, and use its low gravity and possible water at the poles as propellant for further space exploration?
Why not the moon first?
http://www.theverge.com/2016/6/7/11868840/moon-return-journey-to-mars-nasa-congress-space-policy
Links:
From NASA itself, in 2008: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/series/moon/why_go_back.html
The all-knowing, ever-trustworthy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_the_Moon
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Should We Skip Mars for Now and Go to the Moon Again?
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I'm mentally OVERDRAWN! What's that SIGNPOST up ahead? Where's ROD
STERLING when you really need him?
(Score: 2) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Wednesday June 08 2016, @10:14AM
I would be quite happy to poke fun of you for your breathless enthusiasm at so much vaporware, but the thing is Mr Musk really does have a tendency to turn his dreams and promises into real projects and products. If he delivers only a quarter of what he proposes (which I think is well within the realms of possibility) then it will be a very impressive result and a big push forwards for our species.
What I really came here to ask is your (ie, the SN community) opinion on the following: In eighty years, two hundred years and a thousand years, how will history remember Elon Musk, if at all? How much of his ambition do you think he will he realise? If he achieves great things, will somebody else sweep in after him and steal all the eternal glory and credit? Will he be forgotten or will there be a giant statue of him for centuries to come on the main concourse of Mars Spaceport? Will he laughed at as a loser who blew his fortune on a stupid dream or praised as the patron saint of space travellers? Will Elon Musk be a mere footnote to someone else's achievements, or a name that echoes down the ages like Alexander the Great?
Discuss.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by takyon on Wednesday June 08 2016, @11:06AM
I think his legacy will eclipse Steve Jobs. The projects he's involved in (electric cars, battery manufacturing and sales, solar manufacturing and leasing, Hyperloop, spaceflight) have the potential to be more transformative. Just increasing the energy density of batteries has a huge impact on many technologies, including those silly watches Steve Jobs didn't get a chance to flog, and is complementary to solar and electric vehicle pursuits.
I think the years in which SpaceX could simply fail are past. It is an established player in the spaceflight industry, catering to both governments and companies. Any edge that ULA might have had will be gone if SpaceX can successfully carry astronauts to the ISS without killing them. Elon Musk's Tesla is where I see a business that could fail spectacularly, and where hype has to translate into ever-increasing direct sales to consumers rather than satellite launches and trips to the ISS.
SpaceX's true test will be their quest to lower the cost/kg of payload launches. Getting it to $100/kg or less would be revolutionary and will allow subsequent pioneers to actually commercialize spaceflight beyond government-funded activity and tourism. This is where Musk could lose a little luster, since ULA, Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, etc. will be trying to copy the reusable rocket success and may make it work better than Musk can. Also, alternative approaches such as the Skylon spaceplane may be able to lower $/kg while looking a lot more how we envision the future of space travel (Star Wars, Star Trek, etc. is all about single-stage-to-orbit).
Musk is more than a footnote in the history of space travel, but perhaps hasn't reached the chapter level yet. That will require the success of reusable rockets. Some subsequent pioneers will be more important than Musk on a large timescale, such as those involved in asteroid mining. Those will be the people engaging in activity that increases the scale of human civilization. Although Musk has big plans for Mars, I don't see him as the founder or leader of a sustainable colony, since further decades of technological advancement will be needed to more easily adapt to what is hardly an environment suitable for humans (Antarctica at its coldest is playtime compared to Mars). The people involved in such efforts will go down in history, since for the first time in years, new nations will be formed on "fresh" land, with relative independence from Earth political influence and network latency that will hinder the exchange of dank memes with Earth.
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(Score: 2) by JNCF on Wednesday June 08 2016, @04:41PM
In eighty years, two hundred years and a thousand years, how will history remember Elon Musk, if at all?
The man who claimed the right of Prima Nocta over Mars. If we get life extension soon enough his reign might last as long as the Babylonian god-kings of old!