Happy Moon Day!

[Dis]

A great day and a sad day.
What we accomplished back then was inspiring, what we've done since is dissapointing.
What was it, like 60 something years since Kittyhawk. From that to the moon, but in the next 40 years. Snore.

And look how much that program costed. We couldn't keep up that pace of exploration. We'd have bankrupted the economy by now (we're already close).

unmanned exploration

manned exploration

[Asher]

still not believing it. Why is it we supposedly landed on the moon in 1969, but can't do it today?

Why on Earth do you think we can't do it today?

In fact, we're going to do it again in 2018...

[Dis]

I was kidding of course. I heard 2020 btw. Which does seem strange to me, though. Why does it take so long to get to the moon again?

Yes I know, we have to research a whole new delivery system. The apollo ones are beyond obsolete. Designing, building, and testing a new vehicle will take a very long time.

[Dauphin]

Come on, we wouldn't have a 50$ pen that can write up-side down. (never mind that it's somthing that could be done with a 5 cent pencil.) Think Teflon

5 cent pencils would have left graphite filings floating in the capsule, and could interfere with the electronics or be a health hazard. Or so I am told.

[Asher]

5 cent pencils would have left graphite filings floating in the capsule, and could interfere with the electronics. Or so I am told.

They're also dangerous in zero-G. Pointy.

[Dauphin]

I prefer The Joker's use of the pencil in the last Batman movie.

[Combat Ingrid]

still not believing it. Why is it we supposedly landed on the moon in 1969, but can't do it today?

You guys became too fat. You need to wait another decade or so before you have developed sufficiently powerful thrusters.

[Ben Kenobi]

Excellent thread.

As for the investment into the moon, better to spend on the moon then on those massive rings like the Hardon collector, or perhaps saving the whales.

It's a real good thing we had an entire trek movie devoted to it. I mean, you can travel through time and you go back to save a whale? That emphasises the whole reason why we haven't gone further into space then the Lovell Apollo 13 mission which is a disgrace.

I mean look at how much money we wasted exploring the world?

[Drake Tungsten]

A great day and a sad day.
What we accomplished back then was inspiring, what we've done since is dissapointing.

I agree completely; it's really disheartening to think about how far our country has declined in the past 40 years. The Apollo Program was the last and greatest achievement of the WWII generation before the Baby Boomers came along to ruin the nation and corrupt its spirit...

Hopefully our generation can overcome the burden we're being left with and recapture some of the lost magic of America.

[Drake Tungsten]

KH is right that the Apollo Program was a waste of money that probably could've been better spent on other things. It was an awesome waste of money, though.

[KrazyHorse]

Don't get me wrong; there are a lot of things that the US has thrown more money at that are a worse waste.

maybe once the SS money faucet dries up it will provide actual spending restraint...

[BlackCat]

Well, I guess that there are an accelerator or two that wasn't nesscary to build

[SlowwHand]

The astronauts say go for Mars. I don't know what that would gain, but that's what they say.

[KrazyHorse]

Well, I guess that there are an accelerator or two that wasn't nesscary to build

Do you think I'm going to disagree with you?

The only excuses we have are that:

a) our toy cost ~5% as much as the Apollo program did (in constant dollars)
b) it's being taken out of an economy which is perhaps 3-4 times as large in real terms

[Drake Tungsten]

You eggheads want us to waste money on an international project, though. **** that. If we're going to waste American money, it better be on something we can win and bask in the glory of.