Niel Armstrong Dead. RIP

00timh · Aug 26, 2012

Re: Neil Armstrong, first man on the moon, dies

RIP Neil Armstrong. He was most definitely part of the "right stuff" which led up to leaving the confines of this planet and stepping foot on another celestial body. What I most admire of him. other than his unbelievable courage, not just by doing the mission, but in all of his endeavors up to that time, he pushed the boundaries and limits of every machine he ever piloted. Including both space missions he flew. He encountered unforeseen problems, solved them and made for successful missions. What I also admire about him is how he handled himself and what he did. The consummate professional, giving credit to and where all was due. He was an integral part of a greater cause. We have been blessed as a nation to have such a great man.

Kal'Stang · Aug 26, 2012

solletica said:
China, India, or some Europeran country will ultimately be the first nation to send a man on Mars and/or develop the first practical warp field theory, because unlike the US, those countries don't have the burden of the GOP wasting all its resources on oil and bomb building.

Partisan hackery at its finest here folks. Even in a thread such as this it rears its ugly head.

R.I.P. Neil Armstrong.

Homer. · Aug 26, 2012

solletica said:
And that's precisely the attitude that led to the failure of mankind to achieve anything big in space since 1969.

It's also worth noting that the US already wastes astronomical amounts of money building bombs and military equipment w/no practical value.

If that wasted money were instead spent on the space program, we'd have already sent a man on Mars and (probably) even started on warp flight.

As much as I'd like to see a man land on mars, the US would probably be best to spend that money on introducing universal healthcare, but that's for another thread.

They wouldn't have started on warp flight because there's no such thing. It was made up by the writers of Star Trek. You might as well criticise the government for not doing trade deals with Klingons. You do understand the difference between fiction & reality, don't you??

solletica · Aug 27, 2012

Homer. said:
As much as I'd like to see a man land on mars, the US would probably be best to spend that money on introducing universal healthcare, but that's for another thread.

Eliminating corporate welfare would release a lot more funds for people to spend on their health care and the space program as well as keep insurance cos. more honest (when they no longer get subsidies from uncle sammy).

Homer. said:
They wouldn't have started on warp flight because there's no such thing.

Contrary to popular belief, warp drive is allowed under the constraints of General Relativity (which, though invalid at the quantum level, so far offers correct predictions at macroscopic scales), and NASA acknolwedges it. . .

Here’s the premise behind the Alcubierre "warp drive": Although Special Relativity forbids objects to move faster than light within spacetime, it is unknown how fast spacetime itself can move. To use an analogy, imagine you are on one of those moving sidewalks that can be found in some airports. The Alcubierre warp drive is like one of those moving sidewalks. Although there may be a limit to how fast one can walk across the floor (analogous to the light speed limit), what about if you are on a moving section of floor that moves faster than you can walk (analogous to a moving section of spacetime)? In the case of the Alcubierre warp drive, this moving section of spacetime is created by expanding spacetime behind the ship (analogous to where the sidewalk emerges from underneath the floor), and by contracting spacetime in front of the ship (analogous to where the sidewalk goes back into the floor). The idea of expanding spacetime is not new. Using the "Inflationary Universe" perspective, for example, it is thought that spacetime expanded faster than the speed of light during the early moments of the Big Bang. So if spacetime can expand faster than the speed of light during the Big Bang, why not for our warp drive? These theories are too new to have either been discounted or proven viable.

NASA - Ideas Based On What We’d Like To Achieve

I never said that countries should start building a spaceship; I meant ground based paper-and-pencil research. Warp technology likely won't become a reality for a few centuries, but it's extremely cost-effective to begin research on new theories, esp. since doing so only involves grant money to grad students/professors and computer use, not funding exotic rockets.

The space program should can only get closer to Armstrong's ideal by focusing on achieving something that's never before been done (i. e. manned Mars landing, warp drive). It doesn't matter how long it takes; Armstrong certainly understood that breakthroughs don't happen overnight; he just felt that mankind should just aim toward that goal.

solletica · Aug 27, 2012

Kal'Stang said:
Partisan hackery at its finest here folks. Even in a thread such as this it rears its ugly head.

Nothing ugly about exposing the source of the problem. Corporate welfare is the biggest source of government waste, and the GOP is primarily responsible for it (although both parties share the blame).

It's impossible to explore space when there's a black hole.

Kal'Stang · Aug 27, 2012

solletica said:
Nothing ugly about exposing the source of the problem. Corporate welfare is the biggest source of government waste, and the GOP is primarily responsible for it (although both parties share the blame).

It's impossible to explore space when there's a black hole.

And it still flies over your head. THIS thread is about Neil Armstrong and his death. One of the most important people in our history and you have to bring this crap into this thread. If you want to discuss this "black hole" then you should take it to another thread. There is NOTHING political about his death. About the only thing that should be talked about in this thread is Neil Armstrong, and his accomplishments or anything related to him that is neutral.

And yes, partisan hackery IS ugly.

waas · Aug 27, 2012

Yet another reminder of the immense progress this past century has seen.

Rosie1 · Aug 28, 2012

RIP, to a true hero.:hm

Higgins86 · Aug 31, 2012

Blue Moon on the day of his service! Nice touch!

Niel Armstrong Dead. RIP

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