Water found on Mars

[moot]

Yeah it's centuries' work for any terraforming, and if atmosphere comparable to earth were added to mars, it'd last under a thousand years or so for the reasons Dkf mentionned.  For now it's way more interesting to use sheltered spaces.  Those huge pits would probably be convenient to start with.

So, a small piece of water now allows NASA to drain another few trillion tax dollars just to lose three machines in the process due to, "mechanical failures."

Way to go! Keep looking for nothing.

You're welcome to do better than them given the difficulties and available resources.. If there's nothing in space according to you, you're better off minding your navel down here on earth.  There's 10x times the amount of cash wasted on social programs and general politician mismanagement right here for you to wring your wrists at. You could probably wring em against a calculator and see how accurate "another few trillions" of dollars is, to start with.

[zoozoo]

thets move to mars and get away from these punk kids!

[Cthulhu]

So, a small piece of water now allows NASA to drain another few trillion tax dollars just to lose three machines in the process due to, "mechanical failures."

Way to go! Keep looking for nothing.

Few trillion dollars?? NASA's budget is a joke compared to practically every other govenrment agency. And the trickle down of applied technology to the economy has more than paid for itself.

You're welcome to do better than them given the difficulties and available resources.. If there's nothing in space according to you, you're better off minding your navel down here on earth.  There's 10x times the amount of cash wasted on social programs and general politician mismanagement right here for you to wring your wrists at. You could probably wring em against a calculator and see how accurate "another few trillions" of dollars is, to start with.

News Flash!! Moot battles Luddites on planet Earth. You can't miss it. It's at the center of the "admitted" Universe.

[moot]

lol!  What we need is a lex luthor at the head of nasa.

[Cthulhu]

lol!  What we need is a lex luthor at the head of nasa.

Funny thing is, I've dealt with the guys at NASA. You won't find a cheaper, more anal-retentive, penny-pinching bunch.

[AKIron]

Yeah no real surprise that water was there.  The real story though is that they found that the soil is full of nutrients and could actually support plant life.  Now just get the atmosphere in check and start planting.

Now we know what to do with our extra c02. If we can get some new coal electricty plants going we should have plenty to export to Mars. 

[Rich46yo]

Funny thing is, I've dealt with the guys at NASA. You won't find a cheaper, more anal-retentive, penny-pinching bunch.

I dont see much going to NASA if Emperor Hope Daddy gets in the white house. I'll bet 1/2 his supporters dont even know we landed men on the moon. "Huh""Huh""Huh""Huh"?

Then by the time we finish off paying the reparating there aint going to be much left.

[Chalenge]

...
I am not real sure about the atmosphere question but the absence of the magnetic field is a major problem.

I saw that too and its part of my thoughts regarding what I already said. We could heat the core but not sure what that would do to the planet. Without a molten core and magnetic field (electromagnetisphere) the solar winds will continue to rip away at Mars and any dense atmosphere we could recreate.

So, a small piece of water now allows NASA to drain another few trillion tax dollars just to lose three machines in the process due to, "mechanical failures."

Way to go! Keep looking for nothing.

NASAs budget for 2009 is just under eighteen billion. I think they could trim the Constellation sciences budget from three billion to a couple hundred million but for some reason they think thats important.

At some point I think NASA has to start experimenting with landings on other planets. As our technology improves it will be safer. I dont believe we are ready to do this with a large safety margin. One of the robotic explorer missions we sent to Mars was assembled as a joint effort of American and European agencies. Somewhere between all the various units and conversions someone misplaced a decimal point so that during the atmospheric entry point the vehicle slowed too much and fell like a stone instead of skipping across the atmosphere to slow down properly and then descend as planned. I dont want to see that happen to people and if there are mistakes like that how can they take on landing people there?

[Cthulhu]

I dont see much going to NASA if Emperor Hope Daddy gets in the white house. I'll bet 1/2 his supporters dont even know we landed men on the moon. "Huh""Huh""Huh""Huh"?

Then by the time we finish off paying the reparating there aint going to be much left.

We landed on the moon? You buy that? Capricorn 1 man, Capricorn 1. Just ask OJ, he knows about the whole scam.

[moot]

Somewhere between all the various units and conversions someone misplaced a decimal point so that during the atmospheric entry point the vehicle slowed too much and fell like a stone instead of skipping across the atmosphere to slow down properly and then descend as planned. I dont want to see that happen to people and if there are mistakes like that how can they take on landing people there?

By learning from each mistake and not repeating it, the same way that that conversion snafu won't happen again.  Space is just another trip thru and to terra incognita. Gotta get your toes wet at some point.

[Kaw1000]

Seriously though, who in their right mind would WANT to live on Mars?

That's almost insane as wanting to live in Nevada!

(Image removed from quote.)

Is this really Mars or Iran/Iraq??

[Maverick]

If we can't manage to land on and live on the nearest planet that has water and other resources given the current technology, just how are we going to mine the asteroids? There is the whole no habitat in space, no way to maintain bone density in long term space missions, no way to land then actually mine the asteroids at the present time. No way to return the materials, just what are you going to do for fuel once you get there? If we can't manage to land on an entire planet how are we going to land on an asteroid that has a non stable orbit not to mention things like tumble?

The asteroid mining is a great concept but it's beyond the steps we would need to do to simply land and survive on Mars. Hell if the Mars atmosphere is not sufficient to shield the astronauts from solar wind, radiation and other "bad" things, how will an airless rock do so?

[trax1]

Speaking of NASA's budget it is a joke now, back during the Apollo program NASA's budget was 4% of the National budget, now it's somewhere around 1/6 of a %, it's a total joke.

[Rich46yo]

The entire problem of getting recruits to live on Mars would be simple. Just make sure a lot of really good looking woman are recruited to go there. That will cost you some money but not as much as paying both men and woman.

If enough good looking woman are on-planet, and if maybe theres a good dance club built, then guys will flock to Mars. And they will probably go for free.

Added incentives would be free beer, pizza joints, free cable, and on-line gameing. Really thats all guys do anyway so why not do it on Mars?

Make it at least a 3 to 1 ratio of girls to boys. Problem solved.

[Jackal1]

OH great ! Water on Mars.
I am just thrilled beyond belief. No wait...that was just boredom.