2000 AD Online Forum

to annoy the chinese !

who are sending probes...doings lots of spacey things and shouting 'yaa boo sucks yankee pig'

So we will finally colonise space, not through desire to reach beyond our world, not for the natural desire to explore strange new worlds,
to seek out new life and civilizations,
to boldly go where no one has gone before, not even for good old fashioned profit... No, we will conquer the planets because some dumb cowboy can't stand the Chinese doing something better than him.

It's worth remembering that we've been here before: during his presidency, George HW Bush proposed a mission to Mars. It was canned after cost estimates placed the expense of a manned mission at $500 *billion*.

That this has been proposed in an election year - and with such a comparatively small budget - makes it look more like a PR job than a serious new direction for American space exploration.

I wouldn't be surprised if the advances in the Chinese space program had something to do with this announcement, but as with a lot of Bush's other decisions, I think this has a great deal to do with US domestic politics.

Not wanting to go all Rodenberry, but wouldn't it be a lot cheaper and easier, if all the countries kind of... helped each other...?

Oh me and my crazy ideas...

Personally I'd rather the two most powerful countries decided to comepte over who has the biggest moonrocket than have an arms race.  I'd also rather the richest countries paid for it as well.

Good point Paul, but from what I understand, America do not have any money, which may create a bit of bother down the line.


"Moonrocket" is a bloody great word, by the way.

No, it seems to me that all the ground work has yet to be done anyway.  That's why we have all these satellites zooming off to understand about Mars now and in the past.

As has been said, Bush can say it, because he'll probably have corked it before man lands on Mars, and his presidency, even a second term would be a long way behind him.

Still, I think it would be great to take over Mars, I find all the projects really exciting, even though mars is really kind of a bit dull and a bit dead.

"Still, I think it would be great to take over Mars, I find all the projects really exciting,"

I know what you mean. I take you also have the problem of having to explain why someone driving a 'remote control' car on another planet is, in fact, bloody exciting?

'Mars dull and dead'..dont you believe it..for starters it has 2 polar icecaps..ice means water..water means life..who's to say when the highly advanced martians discovered their atmosphere was close to collapsing they didnt decide to move the whole shebang underground?..Then theres the Cydonia region..with its amazing geometric patterns unlike those normally found in barren wastelands they could well remnants of an old civilization

"What's that! There's Chinee on the Moon! Go get 'em boys!!!!"

There's 2 reasons bush wants to get to the moon-

Bin Laden and Weapons of mass destruction.

Haven't found either yet. "Go in ever widening circles till ya find em"

Val

the chinese program of sending probes will be cheaper and quicker but will make the yanks squirm that china have a space program

of course, the sensible thing would be for a u.n. backed space program of probes and ISS but then...when did sense come into anything ?

"for starters it has 2 polar icecaps..ice means water"

In this case,not always.One of the caps is CO2.

Bit dull and lifless for most,admittedly,but if you're into Geology in any way it's pretty groovy!

It would be great if it happened.Moon first of course,innit?Did you know the moon has an atmosphere?Am I wittering?

hellmuffin,who you'd never guess got a telescope fer crimbo.

The Moon has an atmosphere?  Our Moon?

"The Moon has an atmosphere? Our Moon?"

Yup,the very same.It's (obviously) *very* tenuous,and composed of Sulphur vapour,burned off by the Sun.
Where's that Get Fact!thread...

H.

i heard he watched a DVD of space 1999 and was very impressed by it all.

turned to his advisors and said. thats a great idea. go for it,.

As usual, Get Your War On has a poke at this news:

Link: Get Your War On

"Bit dull and lifless for most, admittedly, but if you're into Geology in any way it's pretty groovy!"

I have a geology degree (don't ask me how) and I think it's dull!  Stil enjoy all the probes and what they might find out though, but it's funny seeing people get dizzy with excitement seeing a vista covered in rocks - now in more detail!

There are, as always, more sinister reasons why the US wants to stay in space ...

Link: Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear ...

Ah, good old "full spectrum dominance"...

You're all crazy!  The Americans need to beat the Chinese 'back' to the Moon so that they can plant all the 'evidence' that proves that they've been there already...

Link: http://www.mnftiu.cc/mnftiu.cc/war30.html

Surely we are missing the point here?

Man can't go to Mars until we have War-Bots to fight for us. Just now we can't get robots to walk on two legs, never mind cross-dress and talk in cool techno abbreviations.

The whole plan is just N & V.

Spread the word!