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Trump Has Grand Plan For Mission To Mars But Nasa Advises: Cool Your Jets (theguardian.com)
Donald Trump would like to see Americans walk on Mars during his presidency. Nasa would love to get there that quickly, too. The reality of space travel is slightly more complicated, however. From a report: On Monday, during a call with astronaut Peggy Whitson, who was aboard the International Space Station, Trump pressed her for a timeline on a crewed mission to Mars, one of Nasa's longest standing and most daunting goals. "Tell me, Mars," he asked her from the Oval Office, "what do you see a timing for actually sending humans to Mars? Is there a schedule and when would you see that happening?" Whitson answered by pointing out that Trump, by signing a Nasa funding bill last month, had already approved a timeline for a mission in the 2030s. She added that Nasa was building a new heavy-launch rocket, which would need testing. "Unfortunately space flight takes a lot of time and money," she said. "But it is so worthwhile doing." Trump replied: "Well, we want to try and do it during my first term or, at worst, during my second term, so we'll have to speed that up a little bit, OK?" It was not clear whether the president meant the remark as a quip or something more serious.
Living on Mars is not the same as a discussion about visiting Mars.
But, "we can't do XX. Ever." has been said a million times about a million different things and every time, when there was the will and the money to do XX the person making the statement came down as a short-sighted idiot.
That Trump will finish a first term much less get reelected to a second term is as unlikely as NASA to send astronauts to Mars in the next eight years.
He's not interested in space travel, he's interested in himself.
I have a suspicion this is Ego vs Science.
He wants to cut all sorts of science and research budgets, so he's obviously not in favor of public money being spend on science. In Trump's eyes science is a private enterprise thing, not a government thing.
So why does he want to go to Mars, and specifically why does he want to go during his presidency?
The answer is Ego.
He wants to be known as the President who got man to another planet. He wants the capital city on some long-in-the-future Mars to be called Trump Town.
He doesn't want to go to look for signs of life, he doesn't want to go to advance science, he doesn't want to go to see if there is any long-term investment strategy.
He wants to go for the ego-boost.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
I just don't understand this. Every single time he says something idiotic, there are always people who try to claim that he isn't serious. "Oh, he's not serious about the wall" "Oh, he's not serious about his vendetta against immigrants." And then he will do, or at least try to do, exactly what he said. Anyone who, at this point, honestly believes that he doesn't mean what he says, is either stupid, deluded, or both.
So yes, I think he's entirely serious that he wants to have people walking on Mars within his term. The only question is, what will he do when he finds out that it's impossible? Will he throw craptons of money at NASA, thinking that he just throw money at the problem? Will he just get pissed off and "fire" NASA?
The man is so completely divorced from reality that there's really no way to anticipate what he will do.
"or, at worst, during my second term" ... Please... No...
Let's all remember that the President that put our nation on the path towards landing on the moon was JFK in the early 60s. We did not land on the moon during his presidency. Even if JFK were to not have been shot and been re-elected, he would have left office just shy of the first moon landing on July 20, 1969. If Trump actually thinks that we're going to go even further and solve even more scientific problems necessary to make a Mars mission successful within his presidency, he's even more delusional than we originally thought, and that's probably grounds for invoking the 25th amendment.
It's not that he's evil (at least in this context), it's that he's making everything about himself.
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What you are really saying is that we should colonize Venus first. I agree. Floating colonies on (above) Venus sounds so much better than living in tin cans on a cold dead rusty world.
This is my island in the Stratosphere.
I got a place for sunshine and my freeze dried beer.
No need to freeze as it's warm and clear.
Don't look down now, there is nothing to fear.
Just a Venetian sunset such a lovely view.
I can't believe we thought it was something new!
What? The difference in temperature is minimal between the two areas. You fell into the common trap: since one thing is possible, all things must be possible. Mars is nothing like the Earth. Nothing. Imagine living in the bottom of the sea, or on the North Pole. That is paradise compared to Mars. Just because you can run to the end of your block doesn't mean you can run a marathon either.
If that gets us a mission to Mars sooner, so what?
You don't need Will right now, you need Geordi.
Ezekiel 23:20