Moderators: richierich, ua900, PanAm_DC10, hOMSaR
We have set a clear goal vital to the next chapter of America's story in space
petertenthije wrote:Nice goal to set, but Obama is in his last months. He can promiss the world, but his successor could easily scrap,the program.
We have set a clear goal vital to the next chapter of America's story in space: sending humans to Mars by the 2030s and returning them safely to Earth, with the ultimate ambition to one day remain there for an extended time.
kc135topboom wrote:The US built and tested the Saturn V rocket and the Apollo system and landed on the Moon just 7 years after President Kennedy made his famous speech. We did it with pencil, paper, and slide-rules Today we have super computers and thousands of engineers and we will need at least another 14 years to make it to Mars?
WIederling wrote:kc135topboom wrote:The US built and tested the Saturn V rocket and the Apollo system and landed on the Moon just 7 years after President Kennedy made his famous speech. We did it with pencil, paper, and slide-rules Today we have super computers and thousands of engineers and we will need at least another 14 years to make it to Mars?
You'd need another monomaniac like von Braun ( and his troop ) and another exceptionally bright dedicated young man not hard linked to established power structures like JFK to pull that off. ( and it killed him fast. )
Stitch wrote:What you need is another Global Political/Economic Model struggle like we had with Communism/Socialism and Democracy/Capitalism.
The world's pretty much settled on Democracy and they have totally settled on Capitalism (even the Socialists are Capitalists, now).
Stitch wrote:The world's pretty much settled on Democracy and they have totally settled on Capitalism
Francoflier wrote:I think what has also changed I guess since 1962 is that the US congress has gained an extreme aversion to spending.
kc135topboom wrote:The US built and tested the Saturn V rocket and the Apollo system and landed on the Moon just 7 years after President Kennedy made his famous speech. We did it with pencil, paper, and slide-rules Today we have super computers and thousands of engineers and we will need at least another 14 years to make it to Mars?
comanche81 wrote:Actually, Obama talked about mars in the same terms already in 2010, pointing at 2030.
I find big difference with the Kennedy thing in the word "commercial".
Back then it was a competitive matter with almost unlimited funds, looks like it's more of a business oriented project now.
iamlucky13 wrote:
"Commercial" efforts comprise only a tiny fraction of what NASA is doing right now, and effectively none of it is feeding into the exploration efforts. SLS is being designed under traditional contracts. All the commercial work so far is oriented at ISS resupply, and more recently, ISS crew flights that are scheduled to start in 2018.
Channex757 wrote:Far from the engineer-led NASA of the late sixties when I was a wide-eyed kid watching the moon landing as I'd been allowed to stay up late and watch history being made.