The Times They Are A-Changing?

louis · 2016-11-14 20:08:16

I am picking up quite a few good vibrations in the zeitgeist...Musk's plans have generally been well received I think and have sparked quite a lot of interest...interest in Mars is peaking as general feelings of angst about the state of the home planet increase...we have the new National Geographic boxset infodrama based on Mars colonisation...we have the Trump presidency much more likely to be interested in "huge" projects...Mars seems to be getting more and more mentions in mainstream media...

I think 2016 is proving to be a very good year for the worldwide pro-Mars movement. We can now see at least the outlines of a real attempt at Mars colonisation (thanks Elon!) and the prospect of US government backing for that.

SpaceNut · 2016-11-14 20:50:50

Not quite as the words were to fix potholes...lets not tread into politics any further

I wanted to watch the National Geographics tonight but I do not run the remote in my house....
The clips and paper articles do keep me interested in furthering the 2 metric ton Red Dragon to mars as a plan until something bigger can be landed on its surface.

What are you waiting for Nasa....

Void · 2016-11-14 21:12:10

Patience, lots of patience.

Void · 2016-11-15 12:24:40

I am not really interested in politics at all in this.

It looks to me like we could get personed missions to the Moon, Mars, and the Asteroids.

It makes some sense, if the objective is to use the Moon and Mars as leverage to get to metallic asteroids.
It also makes sense as an economic stimulus instead of one massive war after another. Imagine if we had spent all the money for the two Iraq wars on space where we would be now in space technology.
And of course such an action would stimulate lots of spin off technologies. Many which would have defense applications.

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/article/t … take-shape
Quote:

November 14, 2016
As the impending Trump administration begins to form, there are indications that NASA's agenda may drastically change under the new President.
A senior advisor to the Trump campaign, Congressman Robert Walker, told Forbes that the goals of America's space program will shift away from scientific missions in low Earth orbit towards something far more ambitious.
He told Forbes that the "Trump space policy anticipates human exploration far beyond low-Earth orbit and even beyond Mars."
Outlining the key facets of this policy, Walker forecast the development of technology for humans to explore the solar system "by the end of this century" and a change in NASA's budget to focus on this goal.
Additionally, Walker proposed "an aggressive program for development of hypersonic technology" as well as ensuring that work on the ISS continues well into the future.
Along with another Trump space advisor, Walker also indicated that the administration will be keeping an eye on the potential militarization of space by Russia and China.
As to the private space industry, the advisors suggested that collaboration between NASA and various companies could be further extended by the Trump administration.
Lest one think these proposals are merely talking points issued in the wake of a stunning campaign victory, the ideas were put forward by Trump last month during a campaign stop in Florida.
"I will free NASA from the restriction of serving primarily as a logistics agency for low earth orbit activity," he declared at the time, "instead we will refocus its mission on space exploration."
Clearly looking to leave his mark beyond even our own planet, Trump promised that, "Florida and America will lead the way into the stars."
With such lofty goals in mind, perhaps we laughed too soon this past summer when anomaly hunters spotted that Trump face on Mars.

Last edited by Void (2016-11-15 12:28:09)

louis · 2016-11-15 17:53:04

I wasn't advocating for Trump - just pointing out his Presidency may well facilitate the Mars project especially as his chief strategist will be Steve Bannon who previously promoted the Biosphere project - something with obvious implications for Mars-based structures.

But the main point of this thread was just to check whether others have sensed this changed in the public/media mood.

Void · 2016-11-15 17:59:27

Yes, of course it is going to be different. Every time a new administration shows up anywhere, they have to change things so they can own it.

I think we can guess where this guys head is going to be at per space activity.
http://www.space.com/14363-newt-gingric … -mars.html

It has been my feeling but not a validated certainty, that the outgoing administrations objective was to hobble the space program. But I won't go political on that. I think they felt that there were more important things to do.

So, they pointed the space program at a planet where there might be life. So, they would hope that if life was found they would have wasted our time, since then they could employ endless delay, protecting that life. They voided the technological testing that would have occurred with the Moon plan.

Then they pointed the space program at plucking an asteroid and making it orbit the Moon. Then they downsized it to a boulder to be plucked from an asteroid. It was stated that the objective was to practice going to Mars, but they also indicated that it was to be justified as a practice of protecting the Earth from a collision with asteroids.

So, that tells it all. They had an Earth centric objective, and it was yet another "Mission to planet Earth".

The new administration according to the materials that can be read, seems to have cast it's eyes more broadly away from the Earth and into deep and very deep space.

I think they might go for and get the mother load. (Resources).

Last edited by Void (2016-11-15 18:09:30)

SpaceNut · 2016-11-15 21:16:01

There appears to be a reset Noticeable Shift In Interest From Mars (Back) To The Moon

lsam.07.jpg

GW Johnson · 2016-11-16 15:21:53

Well, that Newt Gingrich article was 4 years old. He was talking to NASA workers in Florida during a primary campaign. Odds are, his remarks were callously calculated to win votes, to to promise anything he really intended to do. He (like so many others) has a long history of exactly that.

The welfare of others is not usually on his mind, according to the record. You must remember that this is the man who led the shut down of the US government during Bill Clinton's presidency, to try and extort what he wanted. This was way more than a decade before the tea party obstruction-at-all-costs movement ever got underway.

I have little faith anymore in what NASA or the other government lab heads say. I haven't had any faith in any of the politicians for 3+ decades now. If NASA does anything at all, it'll be to shunt aside at least a little of the shame of being left behind in the dust by the likes of Spacex and Blue Origin. I don't even trust them to keep ISS aloft to 2020. I don't expect to see SLS fly more than about once or twice, either. (Although the "favorite contractors" get paid whether it flies or not.)

Just about the only piece of NASA actally doing anything substantive anymore is JPL, and that's only because Congress doesn't meddle directly in the planetary probe programs, it just tries to defund as many of them as it can.

The GOP controls now, and they are focused solely on tax cuts for the giants that own them, and cutting everything else but defense (also the giants who own them). This ain't the 1960's, space is no longer politically "part of" defense anymore. It hasn't been since Nixon cancelled Apollo.

If I were you, I would not hold my breath waiting for the government to do anything in space.

GW

Last edited by GW Johnson (2016-11-16 15:27:29)

Mars_B4_Moon · 2021-11-27 05:20:12

'A New Challenger for Elon Musk? Another Company Plans to Settle Humans on Mars'
https://interestingengineering.com/a-ne … ns-on-mars

Elon Musk Has A Laugh As President Biden Says Detroit Leading The World On EVs And Skips Mentioning Tesla
https://www.dwchannel.com/2021/11/elon- … biden.html

Elon Musk’s mother mocks Biden, Harris and Buttigieg for ignoring Tesla in electric car push
https://news.yahoo.com/elon-musk-mother … 09366.html

SpaceNut · 2021-11-27 11:25:45

The silent under dog Sierra Nevada with its dream chaser is great for orbital flights but for Mars its going to need lots of work.

New Mars Forums

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#1 2016-11-14 20:08:16

The Times They Are A-Changing?

#2 2016-11-14 20:50:50

Re: The Times They Are A-Changing?

#3 2016-11-14 21:12:10

Re: The Times They Are A-Changing?

#4 2016-11-15 12:24:40

Re: The Times They Are A-Changing?

#5 2016-11-15 17:53:04

Re: The Times They Are A-Changing?

#6 2016-11-15 17:59:27

Re: The Times They Are A-Changing?

#7 2016-11-15 21:16:01

Re: The Times They Are A-Changing?

#8 2016-11-16 15:21:53

Re: The Times They Are A-Changing?

#9 2021-11-27 05:20:12

Re: The Times They Are A-Changing?

#10 2021-11-27 11:25:45

Re: The Times They Are A-Changing?

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