As an aside, I'm a bit addicted lately to Defying Gravity. I missed the last episode and just downloaded it from itunes to watch tonight :) Woohoo lol!
I Never like that guy. There was just something about him that made my skin crawl. Don't ask me why. Never met the guy. Have no knowledge of him. Just can't stand him. I did like him playing Minnesota Fats. I did like the movie "PePe"(?) My late husband used to watch him all the time.
I missed the OP before it was edited, but based on responses to it, am assuming that there was question about the wisdom of spending money on a Moon mission; and "crashing" something into our natural satellite.
IMHO, there are far better ways to spend the money even if it's considered to be a minuscule portion of our overall budget. People really should remember Ben Franklin's adage that a penny saved is a penny earned--never mind MILLIONS of dollars!
As regards the impact (pun intended) of a crash, I just want to know when humans will consider the worst-possible consequences of our actions instead of assuming that we have some God-given right to blast or crash at will. We've trashed our own small world and are STILL clueless about the long term harm we've done. We've already got a band of potentially lethal and probably unattractive space junk floating around Earth. Next up, the solar system?
Water rights ownership is a hot topic in the dry state where I live. There was a "rush" of sorts to tap into the newly discovered brackish water table. http://newmexicoindependent.com/606/atrisco-strikes-brackish-gold Not regulated either, because the state engineer's domain only extends to something like 2500 feet while the brackish water table lies at a much deeper level. All kinds of ad hoc "corporations" staked claims with dubious intent. Control the supply? Tap it all out and run?
Sustainability doesn't seem to be in the capitalist lexicon. Am not sure what happened to the idea of "stewardship" either.
To clarify, it was in regard to spending all that money right now during an economic crisis in your country (when in actuality much of that money was spent over the course of years).
~As regards the impact (pun intended) of a crash, I just want to know when humans will consider the worst-possible consequences of our actions instead of ...~
I'm not sure what it is you think is the worst-case scenario re: this event in particular. Could you elaborate?
Re: the rest of your post, I understand your concerns re: exploitation of the environment.
79 million dollars to "find" water on the moon, even over three years, seems awfully high at a time when the nation is struggling to cover any number of expenses. Ben was right. Tell you another thing. It adds up. Taxes, programs, whatever......impose enough of 'em and even Gulliver will succumb to the Lilliputians.
Homo sapiens has a nasty tendency to assume that actions take place in a vacuum (certainly true of space); the species doesn't take heed of the long term and often-unforeseen consequences. I don't KNOW what those might be in blasting a crater in the lunar surface. Am betting that scientists have, at best, an educated guess. But look what has happened to space junk. Even a tiny bit, moving at speed in high earth orbit, is capable of causing significant damage to any other object with which it collides.
Scientists have said that the marks made in 1969 by the Apollo mission (footprints, marks from the Eagle, flag staff) are still there. No wind, no erosion forces. http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo_11_30th.html So whatever gets blasted into smithereens by a "crash" is likely to stay blasted, by NASA's own admission "for millions of years".
I am unimpressed by the notion of finding out whether the moon has water. Makes a helluva lot more sense to spend our money, time, and mind-power on containing and addressing the issues we have created on this planet. Clean up the mess here before creating others farther out in space.
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No problem.
"
Once they're let go or ended it can be
As an aside, I'm a bit addicted lately to Defying Gravity. I missed the last episode and just downloaded it from itunes to watch tonight :) Woohoo lol!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defying_Gravity_(TV_series)
I missed the OP before it was edited, but based on responses to it, am assuming that there was question about the wisdom of spending money on a Moon mission; and "crashing" something into our natural satellite.
IMHO, there are far better ways to spend the money even if it's considered to be a minuscule portion of our overall budget. People really should remember Ben Franklin's adage that a penny saved is a penny earned--never mind MILLIONS of dollars!
As regards the impact (pun intended) of a crash, I just want to know when humans will consider the worst-possible consequences of our actions instead of assuming that we have some God-given right to blast or crash at will. We've trashed our own small world and are STILL clueless about the long term harm we've done. We've already got a band of potentially lethal and probably unattractive space junk floating around Earth. Next up, the solar system?
Water rights ownership is a hot topic in the dry state where I live. There was a "rush" of sorts to tap into the newly discovered brackish water table. http://newmexicoindependent.com/606/atrisco-strikes-brackish-gold Not regulated either, because the state engineer's domain only extends to something like 2500 feet while the brackish water table lies at a much deeper level. All kinds of ad hoc "corporations" staked claims with dubious intent. Control the supply? Tap it all out and run?
Sustainability doesn't seem to be in the capitalist lexicon. Am not sure what happened to the idea of "stewardship" either.
Jabberwocka
~am assuming that ...~
To clarify, it was in regard to spending all that money right now during an economic crisis in your country (when in actuality much of that money was spent over the course of years).
~As regards the impact (pun intended) of a crash, I just want to know when humans will consider the worst-possible consequences of our actions instead of ...~
I'm not sure what it is you think is the worst-case scenario re: this event in particular. Could you elaborate?
Re: the rest of your post, I understand your concerns re: exploitation of the environment.
79 million dollars to "find" water on the moon, even over three years, seems awfully high at a time when the nation is struggling to cover any number of expenses. Ben was right. Tell you another thing. It adds up. Taxes, programs, whatever......impose enough of 'em and even Gulliver will succumb to the Lilliputians.
Homo sapiens has a nasty tendency to assume that actions take place in a vacuum (certainly true of space); the species doesn't take heed of the long term and often-unforeseen consequences. I don't KNOW what those might be in blasting a crater in the lunar surface. Am betting that scientists have, at best, an educated guess. But look what has happened to space junk. Even a tiny bit, moving at speed in high earth orbit, is capable of causing significant damage to any other object with which it collides.
Scientists have said that the marks made in 1969 by the Apollo mission (footprints, marks from the Eagle, flag staff) are still there. No wind, no erosion forces. http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo_11_30th.html So whatever gets blasted into smithereens by a "crash" is likely to stay blasted, by NASA's own admission "for millions of years".
I am unimpressed by the notion of finding out whether the moon has water. Makes a helluva lot more sense to spend our money, time, and mind-power on containing and addressing the issues we have created on this planet. Clean up the mess here before creating others farther out in space.
Jabberwocka
~...to "find" water ... blasting a crater in the lunar surface...~
I agree that it is expensive and that there are environmental concerns.
Just to be clear, my country isn't doing this.
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