Rockets go BOOM

[enigma117]

So I saw an interesting article about a vast, vast deposit of pure h20 on Mars... but this thread is only tangentially related to that.

Of more pertinent interest is how the hell we're gonna get out there in the first place- space propulsion techniques, basically.

Me? I prefer the Project ORION nuclear propulsion system. There's nothing quite so satisfying as setting off a hydrogen bomb under some poor schmuck's arse.

[WiLLiSTER]

Originally Posted by enigma117

Of more pertinent interest is how the hell we're gonna get out there in the first place- space propulsion techniques, basically.

Shouldn't we worry about how we'll be able to survive first? Why make the trip if we're just going to die =\

[enigma117]

To paraphrase Hawkings, interplanetary exploration is the key to our species' survival. It's not enough to attain a sustainable existence on Earth- it might not even be possible. Even switching from fossil fuel to something less polluting still doesn't change the fact that there are six-point-five billion of us right now and only so much arable land... and nukes all over the goddamn place. Setting up just one self-sustaining colony Elsewhere will at least mean that, if something Really Awry hits home, [b]somebody[b] will still be alive to learn from it.

Of course, that assumes we ever have the tech to reach Mars with a self-sustaining colony in the first place- and that is, indeed, a lot of tech. Might not be possible in a century. Or two. Will not be possible at all if we don't try to develop the tech in the first place.

[noisy doll☆]

man, that sucks that our first impulse after fucking up the planet is to leave and do it again somewhere else. =|

[Geschpooklichkeit]

That seems to be the majority opinion among cartoonists everywhere.

[sylcmyk+]

Because it's the truth.

[Ztype]

As exciting as interplanetary travel and space colonization sounds, I think the universe would be better off with the human race being destroyed by some colossal asteroid

[enigma117]

The universe really doesn't care one way or the other. There's no moral reason not to expand outwards- no ethical dilemma against it. Ye can be as anti-anthrocentric as ye want, and at the end of the day, ye still have to admit that it's an empty planet out there that nobody's used or claimed. Might as well make some paltry use of it.

[mappyman]

They should really begin the long trip to Mars. i mean really it'd take a YEAR to get there and back so why not go sooner than later. Other than getting a big case of Space Craziness, itd be great to finally say we landed on fucking Mars ya know?

[Geschpooklichkeit]

There's no atoms on Mars.