Did any of you catch this miniseries? So awesome, especially if you love space exploration as I do. And Gary Sinise had just the right voice for the narration. As soon as I get a Blu-Ray player I’m ordering this thing.
What especially struck me was just how cool the original astronauts were. Those guys are the original badass. It’s 1960 something and the government says: We’re going to put you in a tin can on top of a giant missile we aren’t sure of and send you into outer space. And these guys say “Hell yeah.” That’s nerves of steel.
When I finished the last episode I was ready for a Mars mission. We have to go. Robots are nice and all and we get tons of information, but nothing beats human boots on the ground.
MUST SEE VIDEO: Buzz Lightyear in Spaaaaaaaaaace. For real.
There is more technology in a cell phone than was used in the entire space programme in the 1960’s.
I think space exploration should come second to a lot of stuff (worldwide treatment of HIV for example).
You can walk and chew gum. We can explore space and do other important things.
“What especially struck me was just how cool the original astronauts were. ”
Honest to God, the only movie that’s ever made me cry is “The Right Stuff.” They were tears of AWESOME, for exactly this reason.
bryan… more computing power, certainly. But more technology? I wonder. Why do you think “rocket science” came into our language as a metaphor for advanced technology. Propulsion, metallurgy, guidance, life-support, medicine, space suits, etc. What are these, chopped liver? Not to mention the flotilla of ships that were required for recovery. And the entire TV broadcasting industry employed to keep selling it to the public. And Tang, for God’s sake! Don’t forget Tang. You got Tang in your damn cell phone? Didn’t think so.
And Oliver… do you really want to get into how cool the Mercury Astronauts were? Find time to read Tom Wolfe’s “The Right Stuff.”
An aspect of the space program that doesn’t get enough attention is the logistical and management task of coordinating all the work of the multiple contractors and sub-contractors. For political purposes, bits of the work needed to be placed in as many states as possible. That “tin can and giant missile” Oliver refers to was also an amazing assemblage of puzzle pieces contributed from an enormous number of sub-projects.
Don’t forget the Tempurpedic mattress.
Nerd fight!
I’m all for space exploration, but doing it manned right now is a waste of resources (and probably a waste of lives). I know, I know, a lot of people don’t think robots are as sexy as people in tin cans, but many a scientist would disagree.
NASA has limited resources, and we’re two or three paradigm leaps from manned exploration of space being worthwhile (propulsion and life support being the most important things to work on). But 50-70 years from now, hell yeah. Until then robots can tell us a lot more about the universe than people ever could.
You can walk and chew gum. We can explore space and do other important things.
There is “can,” and there is “find the money for.”
If we put more money into space exploration, then how are we going to bring more American-style democracy to the Middle East, Oliver? Huh? How are we going to do THAT?
Ooh, I got it. We bring the leaders of warring factions of the middle east up to the ISS and let ‘em hang out there for about a week or so. Look out the window and see how insignificant you are and work it out.
My uncle is one of those people who are convinced we never landed on the moon. Like one of the astronauts said, “we went to the moon 9 times! Why would we fake it 9 times?”
My uncle always said we didn’t have the technology at the time to pull it off, to which I reply, “You’re right. We didn’t. But we did it anyway.”
It was a great miniseries. Gary Sinise was a good choice for narrator; I flashed back to his playing astronaut Ken Mattingly in Apollo 13. And the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo astronauts were true pioneers; we can never learn enough about them and what they did. I would recommend the book “We Seven” which was a set of essays written by each of the seven Mercury astronauts.
http://www.amazon.com/We-Seven-ASTRONAUTS-Themselves/dp/B000CBHTLA
NASA does have limited resources; but it is also hampered by being a government agency, subject to partisan leadership priorities and Congressional budgeting fights. It is a Cold War agency that suffers from the government no longer having the push to beat the Commies; now it’s a political soccer ball that gets kicked from side to side depending on who’s in office and what the administration’s political needs are. Unfortunately space exploration is such a massive undertaking that I don’t see the private sector doing anything very significant in the near term. It takes huge resources, which even Richard Branson doesn’t have, to run a space program. I don’t have a solution; but fewer wars in the Middle East (at least fewer wars paid for by us) would be a healthy step in the direction of freeing up resources for space.
The private sector for serious space exploration is a dead end. I think more than resources, NASA lacks direction. They need to have a big goal, rather than the incrementalism of the post-Apollo years.
I am a huge fan of the space program but was disappointed in this series. There was so little science — it was all drama and emotion. I long for a look at how the heck they did this with so little in the way of technology we take for granted.
Have you seen “In the Shadow of the Moon?” Very cool documentary.
Another thing I wish people would realize: how much we benefit from space technology (weather and world-wide communication satellites, etc.) and spin-offs.
Here’s a factoid for you:
NASA’s 2007 budget: $16.3 billion
Iraq war: $10 billion per month
I don’t harp on it often enough, but I’m a huge proponent of the space program. I think that it’ll be things like the X Prize that will push space exploration more than government programs — but I have no problems with doing both at the same time.
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky said something that echoes through my mind at least once a week:
“The Earth is the cradle of humanity, but mankind cannot stay in the cradle forever.”
J.
I think more than resources, NASA lacks direction.
What they need is leadership.
Who’s up for the Google Lunar X Prize?
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky said something that echoes through my mind at least once a week:
“The Earth is the cradle of humanity, but mankind cannot stay in the cradle forever.”
Cool.
I recommend reading JFK’s speech delivered at Rice University in September 1962.
I’ve tried posting a link, but for some reason, it keeps getting hung up in moderation.
We have to develop the next generation of propulsion systems before we put people back in space. Send robots to Mars, learn as much as we can. Meanwhile, we need to set a goal to figure out how to shorten the trip. Space travel at uber high speed? Now that’s a sexy you can sell.