Agreed Paul, it won't be any time soon, but I refuse to think they're out of the race altogether. Troubles come and go, and even if theirs are fixed in glacial time frames, they will be back. They have too much to lose as a nation. They may relinquish their superpower ranking for a few years, but once they eventually stop spending a small country's GDP per day on the current conflict and bring them all back home it's got to help their bottom line. War is business - except for when you're in it yourself. Their mortgage scandal and loss of several banks hasn't helped them out lately either. All will repair itself given time - lots of time maybe, but time.
If the Republican Party get back in, don't bet on it. The Democrats have turned out a rather disappointing lot, but you only have to look at the Republicans to see that the fools in there now are as bad, if not worse, than Bush and Co were. Expect to see some really hard times for the US for the next 10-50 years if the present way of things keeps going. War is business, even if it is your own involved. There's billions being made by certain companies, but you can bet your bottom dollar the economy there won't see too much of it. Bush and his mates making more money for themselves.
It wouldn't surprise me if the US abandoned the ISS. Nope, they're too busy sticking their nose into other people's business and starting wars to make money for the elite (...business as usual...) than to worry about things like the space program, education, health, social welfare etc etc.
Now now Carl no picking on the Indian's we could do with a long distance call centre
Unfortunately of fortuantely the real expertise for the development of future manned missions lies in America and Russia. I just don't think India at least would cut the mustard
Now now Carl no picking on the Indian's we could do with a long distance call centre
Long distance call centre....that would be an understatement in this case
Quote:
Originally Posted by TrevorW
Unfortunately or fortunately the real expertise for the development of future manned missions lies in America and Russia. I just don't think India at least would cut the mustard
You'd be surprised just how much expertise lies outside of those two countries, and if the US goes down the gurgler, don't think those people working at NASA and such will just stay there and cop it sweet. The brain drain from there would be more like a flood. They'll go where the money is.
Carl although India has developed into an economic power I just think it will be some time before they have the resources etc to put a man on the moon.
I believe their second lunar probe launch has now been delayed until 2012.
Lunar probes IMO are dated technology the data to do this successfully was available 40 years ago so why re-invent the wheel
Well if China and India get back to the Moon and then onto Mars before the US gets off its backside, you know what they'll setup there??. China will most likely put a military base on the moon, in violation of the Outer Space Treaty.
India....they'll most likely setup a call centre and a cricket pitch
Carl although India has developed into an economic power I just think it will be some time before they have the resources etc to put a man on the moon.
I believe their second lunar probe launch has now been delayed until 2012.
Lunar probes IMO are dated technology the data to do this successfully was available 40 years ago so why re-invent the wheel
I agree, but it's not out their reach to send someone there. It might take 10-20 years, but they will go there...and setup the call centre
You know what guys at the end of the day, is it all worth it, just to be on top, US is not a super power, it just thinks it is.
It is purely greed, that got them where they are today, and the fact is they the States are war mongers.
Let the other idiots out there fight their own battles and look after your own first.
And this race to space thing is just so un realistic it is ridiculous, put the dollars toward looking after the sick and needy, and forget about the supposed aliens, there are none.
"One small step for a man one large leap for mankind"
Leon it's not about aliens it about the future of mankind a lot of technology we use today is derived from advances in space flight and putting man into space
When resources start running out on earth bet you big business will be hammering to hop on board the space race
"One small step for a man one large leap for mankind"
Leon it's not about aliens it about the future of mankind a lot of technology we use today is derived from advances in space flight and putting man into space
When resources start running out on earth bet you big business will be hammering to hop on board the space race
Asteroid mining refers to the possibility of exploiting raw materials from asteroids and planetoids in space, especially near-Earth objects. Minerals and volatiles could be mined from an asteroid or spent comet to provide space construction material (e.g., iron, nickel, titanium), to extract water and oxygen to sustain the lives of prospector-astronauts on site, as well as hydrogen and oxygen for use as rocket fuel.
Some day, the platinum, cobalt and other valuable elements from asteroids may even be returned to Earth for profit. At 1997 prices, a relatively small metallic asteroid with a diameter of 1.6 km (1 mile) contains more than $20 trillion US dollars worth of industrial and precious metals.
In 2004, the world production of iron ore exceeded a billion metric tons. In comparison, a comparatively small M-type asteroid with a mean diameter of 1 km could contain more than two billion metric tons of iron-nickel ore, or two to three times the annual production for 2004.
The asteroid 16 Psyche is believed to contain 1.7×1019 kg of nickel-iron, which could supply the 2004 world production requirement for several million years. A small portion of the extracted material would also contain precious metals.
Similarly, Jupiter-family comets, and possible near-Earth asteroids which are defunct comets, might also economically provide water. The process of in-situ resource utilization (bootstrapping)—using materials native to space for propellant, tankage, radiation shielding, and other high-mass components of space infrastructure—could lead to radical reductions in its cost.
This would help solve one of two necessary conditions to enable "human expansion into the solar system" (the ultimate goal for human space flight proposed by the 2009 US Review of Human Space Flight Plans Committee (also known as the Augustine Commission): physical sustainability. The second condition needed to meet the Augustine Commission's proposed goal would be "economic sustainability".
just to be on top, US is not a super power, it just thinks it is.
