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Rosetta Mission - lands November 12th
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It would be awesome if another space race were to happen. But what would be the cause of it? We had to have the cold war to fuel the moon race. What do we need for space race 2.0? Planetary Resources making a ton of money from asteroid mining?BTW, whenever I think of the Rosetta Mission, I'm always drawn back to the image Steve Buscemi riding the nuke in Armageddon. Yes, it is childish, but what can you do...
C.S. wrote: "It would be awesome if another space race were to happen. But what would be the cause of it? ..."It will probably be another cold war of sorts, either that or some idiot will push the big red button and we'll need to find a new home like in Interstellar.
The video is awesome. Some commentators have complained against taxpayers' money being spent this way, but I think anything to get people engaged in science and space is money well spent.I think it's incredible what the ESA are doing. They've previously landed a probe on Titan and I think there was a proposal to land something to dig through the ice on Europa. The UK recently boosted its contribution to the ESA budget and we're getting our first official astronaut to the ISS! Tim Peake hopefully flies next year.
C.S. wrote: "...What do we need for space race 2.0? Planetary Resources making a ton of money from asteroid mining?..."I think the Outer Space Treaty currently forbids that, but if someone disregarded it and there was no penalty, it could open the floodgates. I think the discovery of bacterial life on Mars would make the case for a human mission.
"(...) Here's what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money we spend on weapons and defenses each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would pay for many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace." - Bill Hicks
I'm connected to the Rosetta Mission Facebook page and they're sending out updates of the mission chasing the comet. I wonder how much of a time delay there is between when the footage was sent and now? Maybe someone smarter than -me- can take a guess?And yes ... no more adventures in the Middle East. Let's go explore space. So much more fun.
The ESA video was awesome, but it was somewhat abstract, so I don't know if it will inspire people who aren't already interested in space exploration. It is hard to motivate people to care about things that are foreign to their everyday experiences. On a related note, is anyone excited about the NASA Orion launch in a few weeks?
Orion is a good first step towards Mars. The question is, will our dysfunctional Congress throw roadblocks in the way? Or will the Rosetta Mission inspire (shame) them into getting off their butts to explore space?I subscribe to the NASA channel. They put out a nice little 'what it's about' video a few weeks ago. I scrounged it up :-)
NASA Orion Launch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...
Ten years ago, the European Space Agency launched the Rosetta Mission, to send a probe into deep space and catch a comet so it could land on it and collect data to send back to Earth about the composite of comets, including the most important question, where did all our water come from?
The European Space Agency has just released a video outlining this mission, not just any old boring video, but a full-on epic sci-fi/fantasy special effects bonanza staring Aiden Gillen from Game of Thrones. It's a breathtaking video because it's fantastic, but also explains the real-life science behind the mission in such a way to make it intriguing to a broad variety of non-scientists.
Okay ... here's the video. For forth and have your mind blown:
http://www.upworthy.com/the-special-e...
Now ... DISCUSSION time. Who thinks we need MORE of this kind of intriguing video, in our all-video/all-gamer culture, to inspire a new generation of people to regain their love of science?
Anna