Curiosity rover to land on Mars today

[CessnaDriver]

Originally Posted by Simplyrob

i was thinking about this today. whats the point of going to a planet within our solar system? to validate if there was life? i think anyone who thinks there isnt/wasnt life on any other planet, whether within our SS or another, is a fool. why aim for the closest planet? i mean, really. mars is a desolate wasteland. maybe it once had ice caps or water where life existed, but what does that really mean? as fascinating as it was to see NASA execute their landing and plan everything perfectly, i really dont get it. i think space is a dead end until we can develop the ability to travel at the speed of light.

Well, we can only reach as far as the planets in our solar system right now. Just because once ships only used sails didn't mean they waited until steam engines came along to explore.

It's part of learning how we came to exist. Mars didn't get the chance earth did, but early on something may have started. It's fascinating because it's getting into the very origins of who we are, if it happened there, it helps us to understand how it happened here.
It may even be why we exist.
There are theorys that early earth may have been seeded by primitive life from Mars arriving inside meteorites.


You never know what you can find, or not.

Finding nothing is equally valuable, or something totally unexpected, as that is the nature of science and exploration.

Life or not, for me that is not the main purpose, exploration and pioneering, those are the critical things.


--------------


"Jacques Cousteau, the world famous ocean explorer, spoke of his own experience of exploring the waters off Crete, site of the ancient Minoan civilization. He and his crew were not after resources, but knowledge of a little-known civilization. "Why would we spend one full year of our lives and over $2 million just to raise a tiny corner of the veil concealing a few episodes of our past," Cousteau asked rhetorically.


"What is the origin of the devouring curiosity that drives men to commit their lives, their health, their reputation, their fortunes, to conquer a bit of knowledge, to stretch our physical, emotional or intellectual territory? The more I spend time observing nature, the more I believe that man's motivation for exploration is but the sophistication of a universal instinctive drive deeply ingrained in all living creatures. Life is growth -- individuals and species grow in size, in number, and in territory. The peripheral manifestation of growing is exploring the outside world."





It's our nature to explore as far as we can reach and dream of the day when we can go even farther.

[DarkKni9hT]

Originally Posted by Spideristic

Now let's pull back things little more further. What if sea explorers decided that they have too many problems and issues in their town/country and that they would rather wait until all those issues are taken care of? All those issues would have never been fully resolved and they would have missed out on better opportunities for generations to come. Where would the present America be without the ocean explorers?

Hmmm, let's see. I imagine a continent peopled by a society in tune with nature, using their indigenous knowledge of the environment to create shelter, tools and medicines with little to no impact on the environment. I imagine a society rich in folklore and artistry, living a simple, yet elegant existence, preserving the harmony and balance of nature while using it to provide for their people. I imagine vast herds of bison roaming the plains and wolves, cougars and dozens of other species not brought to the brink of extinction. I imagine a complete and utter lack of smog, acid rain, serial killers and atomic bombs.

Yeah. Good thing we showed up.

[boondocksaint]

man thats the last time i let my cousin surf the statue forum under my name...

guys hes an idiot

chalk up all the previous comments by my username on this topic as posted by a chimp...

this is an amazing feat

[Spideristic]

Originally Posted by DarkKni9hT

Hmmm, let's see. I imagine a continent peopled by a society in tune with nature, using their indigenous knowledge of the environment to create shelter, tools and medicines with little to no impact on the environment. I imagine a society rich in folklore and artistry, living a simple, yet elegant existence, preserving the harmony and balance of nature while using it to provide for their people. I imagine vast herds of bison roaming the plains and wolves, cougars and dozens of other species not brought to the brink of extinction. I imagine a complete and utter lack of smog, acid rain, serial killers and atomic bombs.

Yeah. Good thing we showed up.

Damn..I got owned and not in the direction I was expecting. True, there are many negative outcomes that followed through affecting the environment and the Native Americans.

Still without the discovery of America and without the European population coming to America, can't imagine how progressive things would have been in the world. Though Europe and other continents have their major share of contributions in various fields, America has been the pioneer that affected progress in other countries directly or indirectly.

[boondocksaint]

Originally Posted by Spideristic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fl07UfRkPas

excellent!

[Spideristic]

Originally Posted by boondocksaint

man thats the last time i let my cousin surf the statue forum under my name...

guys hes an idiot

chalk up all the previous comments by my username on this topic as posted by a chimp...

this is an amazing feat

Oh man that makes me so happy . Glad to hear that boondocksaint.

[nemesisenforcer]

Originally Posted by boondocksaint

man thats the last time i let my cousin surf the statue forum under my name...

guys hes an idiot

chalk up all the previous comments by my username on this topic as posted by a chimp...

this is an amazing feat

LOL!

[lord odin]

So did they find Marvin yet?

[CessnaDriver]

Originally Posted by DarkKni9hT

Hmmm, let's see. I imagine a continent peopled by a society in tune with nature, using their indigenous knowledge of the environment to create shelter, tools and medicines with little to no impact on the environment. I imagine a society rich in folklore and artistry, living a simple, yet elegant existence, preserving the harmony and balance of nature while using it to provide for their people. I imagine vast herds of bison roaming the plains and wolves, cougars and dozens of other species not brought to the brink of extinction. I imagine a complete and utter lack of smog, acid rain, serial killers and atomic bombs.

Yeah. Good thing we showed up.

You have a popular idealistic view that simply wasn't the case. There was still tribal warfare, torture and slavery by indigenous peoples against each other. The "balance with nature" isn't supported either really. As there wasn't obvioulsy the technology invented by them yet or a population of hundreds of millions yet to feed forcing pressures on natural rescources, that surely as inteillgent as they were then, eventually would have came to be just like europe.


They were... human. Not a level above and they would have no doubt behaved and would have developed no doubt like europe did in time.
Populations would grow, needs for food and technology would be the same pressures as the early people of europe experienced.

But history is what it is. It cannot be changed.
I would also venture, the fates of indigenous peoples would have fared worse eventually as dark forces of the world would have came for them in time. Do you think the Japanse Empire, Hitler's Germany or the Russians would have let them be? If the "new" world had not been, regimes
like Hitler's could have ruled the course of human history unopposed.

Of course you, I, everything we know would not exist.
Would you change history knowing you and your family would not exist, have never been?

Would you press that reset button?

History would have played out different, and they would have had to dealt with an advancing world coming to them eventually. Just the way it is and not to minmize what happened, but it is what it was. It's done. Sad chapters of human history do not negate the good ones.

Humanity moves forward, we cannot change a left or right turn it took hundreds of even thousands of years ago because by today's more advanced moral standards if it does not meet our modern codes.

What exploration does today is what matters to this thread. And THAT is important for all the world's people in benefits. There is nobody to hurt on Mars, and humanity has everything to gain by exploring and learning. So the nature of exploration then and now are rather different in many ways.

[HalJordanFan]

Originally Posted by DarkKni9hT

Hmmm, let's see. I imagine a continent peopled by a society in tune with nature, using their indigenous knowledge of the environment to create shelter, tools and medicines with little to no impact on the environment. I imagine a society rich in folklore and artistry, living a simple, yet elegant existence, preserving the harmony and balance of nature while using it to provide for their people. I imagine vast herds of bison roaming the plains and wolves, cougars and dozens of other species not brought to the brink of extinction. I imagine a complete and utter lack of smog, acid rain, serial killers and atomic bombs.

Yeah. Good thing we showed up.

Are you for real?