Mars 2020

[jficke13]

Is on the ground! Heck yeah.

When we put our minds to it, we can accomplish amazing things, no?

[StillAWarrior]

When we put our minds to it, we can accomplish amazing things, no?

On this front, I highly recommend the podcast 13 Minutes to the Moon.

[GooooMarquette]

That is a pretty freaking awesome accomplishment!

Just takes a little...Perseverance, eh? 🤔

[MuggsyB]

Hammer dropped.  Tremendous accomplishment.  Bam.

[JWags85]

Any chance we get Wojo on the next flight, aina?

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

I watched since I'm working from home on a snow day.
Pretty cool to see. 
The Control Room crew was pumped every successful step that was completed.  It was infectious.

[jesmu84]

Government can't do anything though

[Plaque Lives Matter!]

Seeing pictures live within minutes from the surface 120 million miles away is incredible.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Government can't do anything though

Eh, much rather have NASA funding be used towards projects on Earth, thanks.

Never got the infatuation with space travel, and still think it’s silly that Marquette still has #11 retired.

[JWags85]

Eh, much rather have NASA funding be used towards projects on Earth, thanks.

Not for nothing, the list of stuff you use everyday and that greatly impacts your life that is directly a result of NASA and its funding is pretty profound. You can argue that NASA funding is some of the most useful and impactful when compared to the massive government waste and wheel-spinning elsewhere

[dgies9156]

Eh, much rather have NASA funding be used towards projects on Earth, thanks.

Never got the infatuation with space travel, and still think it’s silly that Marquette still has #11 retired.

You must not have been alive between 1961 and 1969 then.

There was not a lot that united us as a nation after 1963, but the moon shots did. When an Apollo spacecraft orbited the moon in 1968 and brought back the first pictures ever of the far side of the moon, someone wrote Col. Frank Borman and said, "thank you. You saved 1968." Seven months later, the entire nation watched as Apollo 11 raced toward the moon. Even as a youngster, it was an incredible feeling to watch what our nation did.

It's still special. When President Kennedy promised to land a man on the moon and return him safely in 1961, the folks at NASA thought he was nuts. The comment of the day was, as space scientists laughed and then screamed, "HE SAID WHAT...?????? Are you kidding me?" Eight years later, our nation kept our President's promise.

Sorry folks, there's no other nation could do what we did.

P.S. -- Brother JWags85 is right -- the technology that was spun off the space program had a huge impact on the 1970s and 1980s tech boom.

[GB Warrior]

You must not have been alive between 1961 and 1969 then.

There was not a lot that united us as a nation after 1963, but the moon shots did. When an Apollo spacecraft orbited the moon in 1968 and brought back the first pictures ever of the far side of the moon, someone wrote Col. Frank Borman and said, "thank you. You saved 1968." Seven months later, the entire nation watched as Apollo 11 raced toward the moon. Even as a youngster, it was an incredible feeling to watch what our nation did.

It's still special. When President Kennedy promised to land a man on the moon and return him safely in 1961, the folks at NASA thought he was nuts. The comment of the day was, as space scientists laughed and then screamed, "HE SAID WHAT...?????? Are you kidding me?" Eight years later, our nation kept our President's promise.

Sorry folks, there's no other nation could do what we did.

P.S. -- Brother JWags85 is right -- the technology that was spun off the space program had a huge impact on the 1970s and 1980s tech boom.

This is all spot on. Plus we can all unify behind sending Elon to Mars

[jesmu84]

Eh, much rather have NASA funding be used towards projects on Earth, thanks.

Never got the infatuation with space travel, and still think it’s silly that Marquette still has #11 retired.

It was just commentary on those who say the government can't/doesn't accomplish anything

[JWags85]

The other point about NASA and funding is the actual NASA scientists.  There is always the jokes about government employees/agencies and job security, having mid tier talent as the best and brightest go private sector, etc (which often times is totally true).. NASA is a notable exception.  It’s truly a collection of absolute genius level minds in research, development, etc...in a way you won’t see with stuff like economists or energy research, etc

I worked with a company a few years ago that was started by two guys from Cal Tech.
Super smart Big Brain Theory type guys. We got to talking one day at dinner about NASA, space, and obviously Jet Propulsion Laboratory (as its affiliated with Cal Tech).  And they basically said it was the second tier of super smart talent that went to high paying gigs at defense contractors and big money private gigs. Their exceptional top tier classmates all strived for and ended up at JPL or NASA and it’s affiliates. The money would be there later, but that is where you could do incredible work.

Stuff like that is why I’ve always looked favorably at NASA and it’s funding and it’s work. It’s not just “oh space race, we’re the best, suck it Ruskies”, it’s the incredible science and tech advances that come from having unreal talent working on crazy projects with the most unknown environment and variables

[Pakuni]

Perseverance went to Mars only to accompany its daughters. It's taking the first flight back to Earth, I can assure you.

[GooooMarquette]

You must not have been alive between 1961 and 1969 then.

There was not a lot that united us as a nation after 1963, but the moon shots did. When an Apollo spacecraft orbited the moon in 1968 and brought back the first pictures ever of the far side of the moon, someone wrote Col. Frank Borman and said, "thank you. You saved 1968." Seven months later, the entire nation watched as Apollo 11 raced toward the moon. Even as a youngster, it was an incredible feeling to watch what our nation did.

It's still special. When President Kennedy promised to land a man on the moon and return him safely in 1961, the folks at NASA thought he was nuts. The comment of the day was, as space scientists laughed and then screamed, "HE SAID WHAT...?????? Are you kidding me?" Eight years later, our nation kept our President's promise.

Sorry folks, there's no other nation could do what we did.

P.S. -- Brother JWags85 is right -- the technology that was spun off the space program had a huge impact on the 1970s and 1980s tech boom.

Agreed. Growing up when people still considered man on the moon a pipe dream gives a totally different perspective of the magnitude of the accomplishment. Just staggering.

[MU82]

Can't wait to see Matt Damon grow potatoes!

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Eh, much rather have NASA funding be used towards projects on Earth, thanks.

Never got the infatuation with space travel, and still think it’s silly that Marquette still has #11 retired.

The federal government can literally fund anything they choose.  They are not constrained by a limited supply of money because they can always issue more currency.

If you think something is underfunded, that's the result of political policy choice.  It has nothing to do with NASA.

[CTWarrior]

Agreed. Growing up when people still considered man on the moon a pipe dream gives a totally different perspective of the magnitude of the accomplishment. Just staggering.

I always think of my grandparents.  When they were born, people still primarily got around on horseback or carriages, maybe a train if you could afford it.  Before they turned 60, men were standing on the moon.  That progress boggles the mind.

I know humans can be and often are horrible to one another, but when you think that we were first on the planet with rocks and grass and some animals running around and from that we've generated cars and airplanes and spaceships and television and painted the Sistine Chapel and you can microwave a burrito in minutes.  It is so amazing.

[mu_hilltopper]

I always think of my grandparents.  When they were born, people still primarily got around on horseback or carriages, maybe a train if you could afford it.  Before they turned 60, men were standing on the moon.  That progress boggles the mind.

This reminds me .. I think I was at MU, maybe a stats class.  The prof spoke about human development charts, where you'd graph development.

Think the first humans could travel as fast as their legs could carry them.  Maybe they built a boat and could paddle faster.  Then rode horses for centuries.  Then the 1900s come and it shoots way up with engines, trains, jets, rockets.

Think how far you could hunt and kill something.  Started out with whatever you could grab with your hands.  Then stones, slingshots, arrows, bullets.  1950s come and it shoots way up with rockets and ICBMs and you can kill people on the other side of the world.

Life expectancy, how far you could communicate, how much food you could grow, populations of communities .. all of them started so small, and exploded in the past 100 years, and the graphs looks like they all hit an asymptote and go to infinity.

(This applies to Arby's consumption too, so don't bet on science winning in the end.)

[jficke13]

NASA's budget is a rounding error. If anything, it's more impressive how much they accomplish with the resources allotted to them relative to how little other aspects of the government accomplish with so much more.

[GOO]

It is natural for humans to be curious about things, medicine, who we are, exploring earth, what’s in dirt etc, etc. This includes space and exploring heck, even exploring our planet and sending out ships to sea in search or new routes or new land.
Learning new things, math. Philosophy.

There are many things I’d rather not see money spent on. We are all different and ones folly  is a others passion. I for one want to know more about the galaxy, cosmos, whatever. It has to be a balance. 

And before this thread turns into a thread about foolish ways we spend money, let’s not go there. There are extreme examples, of course.