Taken the Manipulation of Science by the Nazists or by Serious Scientists in the field of Animal Rights (because we are all Animals ) , are Scientists Helpful at alll ?
The expensive Space Research is booming in the wake of the famine in Africa or is it not ? The US and EU are racing in conquering the Space, Who discovers what Earlier and Who discovers More ... The comical development ( sort of " home-made" style ) of the European landing module Beagle 2, two expensive studies of NASA on Mars from October 2003 of which NASA prefers not to claim its autorship ...
The American successful Stardust which bravely flew through the tail of the Comet Wild Two at the beginning of 2004 and at the distance of only 240 km from its core it picked up interplanetary particles (the organic material in the space was created,however by a non-organic way) was not covered by the media as the more attractive hysteria around the Mars ...
The European Space Agency (ESA) launched a very successful probe Rosetta (derived from an Egyptian village Raschid in which Champollion discovered a basalic plate by means of which he puzzled out hyerogliphes,the hand writing of ancient Egyptians ) Rosetta cost one milliard euro and in 2011 it will start its hibernation and in 2014 it should reach its rendez-vous with its comet .
The European landing module Beagle 2 was far less successful and we will never know what fate it met in spite of hard efforts made by its Father Colin Pilinger,the boss of the Planetary Science Research Institute , and the consortium Beagle 2 to restablish contact with it , at first by means of the American probe Mars Odyssey which flew in its verticale, and then directly by the giant telescopic antennae, and finally via its main communication modem - Colin Pilinger made the last dangerous try by means of an electrical shock - he turned off and then restarted its computerized system...
The loss of Beagle 2 made the ESA and the British National Space Center to start a disguised self-criticism : lord Sainsbury in commenting on the investigating report said that " no technical dysfunctions were found " ...
but André Brack, an exobiologist who prersided over its scientific branch, admitted that the whole project " was hastened up and made in a "home-made" style because of a shortage of time .... " He said that " the risks were grat but well-founded " .... (!!!) ( Beagle 2 had only a very limited autonomy and had no system making possible to control its landing maneuvres on the Mars .. Colin Pilinger made a suggestion that its parachutes and airbags might had not opened upon landing ... Or its altimeters had failed .
The chief recommendation of the investigating commission is very lapidary :"The next landing mission should be under the control of an agency that has available financial and technical means to realize it ... "

I am completely in favor of space exploration. The actual cost in terms of what leaves this planet, is minimal. The money spent, stays on earth and is recycled through human savings and spending.

What we have gained through this research is priceless. I love the NASA news site and e-mails. We are not only developing new technology that is also useful to us in many ways, and learning of the universe, but the information gathered about our own planet could be essential to our survival.

Arguing the expense of this research is not worth the increase in our knowledge, seems to me like the orginal objection to teaching the sciences. Education was focused on a few Greek and Roman classics and character development, until the 18th century, when the sciences started slowly creeping into education, against much opposition. Such as the Christian and Muslim opposition to teaching evolution that continues to this day. Our standard of living would not be that much different from third world countries, if at all different, if the opposition to teaching the sciences had succeeded in halting this advancement. Space exploration and the technological development that goes with it, is just as important as teaching science.

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Sometimes when you're arguing with a fool, he's doing the same thing.

The problem is that the US, and all other countries are not spending enough money on space exploration and more importantly development of the space station and interplanetary if not intergalctic space travel systems.

It is just my opinion that the exponentially increasing population growth on Earth will reach a point someday where the planet cannot support such numbers. I hope I'm wrong and our conservation capabilities will someday accomodate humans shoulder to shoulder everywhere. But if I'm right, then we'd better know how to colonize and terraform other worlds or moons if we want at least some of the human race to continue

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“I think every good Christian ought to kick Falwell right in the ass.”-Barry Goldwater

I'd love to find other intelligent life out there, but we should seriously focus on developing and perfecting technologies that we as a species could use, like terraforming.

I saw something on PBS a while back about terforming Mars. About half the scientists they interviewed thought it may work, and the other half said never. Very few people though the Wright brothers were sane so I guess there off to a little better start.

In 2001 space odessy they had that big wheel shaped craft. When it's spinning, the centrifugal force could simulate gravity, and if it's super huge you could cram it full to the top with plants and they would create oxygen, then you just recycle and treat the H2O for the plants which of course would also....feed you

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“I think every good Christian ought to kick Falwell right in the ass.”-Barry Goldwater

That'd be awesome - Today's science fiction as tomorrow's reality.

There are huge obstacles that must be over come to allow teraforming Mars. It only has one-fourth the intensity of sunlight that Earth has. There have been suggestions like: Installing a huge shinny foil collar around Mars in space to reflect sunlight onto the surface...I mighty big undertaking. If not that, how would we increase the light in order to support plant life (a must to increase the oxygen)?

Life Beyond Earth - Terraforming

A little light reading, this is my source

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“I think every good Christian ought to kick Falwell right in the ass.”-Barry Goldwater

I forget the name of it, but in Arizona there was an elaborate experiment to see if people could live in an enclosed structure with plants producing all the oxygen and food they need. I believe the experiment continued for a year or two, but had to ended to because the neccessary conditions for life could not be maintained.

I found an article about the expermient and how it is being up dated to deal with our survival on earth and the effects of global warming. Biosphere Background

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Sometimes when you're arguing with a fool, he's doing the same thing.

I thought the biggest problem is even if oxygen were produced the gravity is too weak to keep it close enough to the planet to create an attimouspher? The air would just discipate into space.

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Sometimes when you're arguing with a fool, he's doing the same thing.