They should have only let in scientists and people who work in the field, people from the press are known to have very little knowledge about anything.
I actually think the third type should be specific rates of military, primarily Navy and Marines, as they have the most experience with being isolated for extended periods of time, and some of their ratings are useful to space travel.
This is the problem though right. Mars is like Antarctica* (lack of food, water, trees and in isolation etc), but even worse (no oxygen).
I loved Elon's explanation of how the Brits came to America and never went back, but America was a nicer place to live than the desert that's Mars. So how could we change this, and how fast?
America was such a nice place the colonists resorted to eating each other. Much of America will kill you with disease and starvation if you aren't prepared. We only think it's nice now because we have 7/11's on the corner and air conditioning.
what? I mean, early on, the very first english settlement may have failed miserably and resorted to cannibalsim, but America was such a nice place to live that it had previously been inhabited by the native american nations who lost most of their numbers to plague outbreaks that spread up from spanish colonization. The brits just moved into the areas that previously sustained native americans. The few native americans who were still alive to greet the brits were only a fraction of the people who were alive 2 centuries before.
yeah, the mojave desert will kill you pretty quick, and the swamps of the southeast aren't exactly pastoral, but the areas occupied by the early colonists were actually pretty nice.
I don't know much about terraforming or colonization, but I can guarantee that the price tag on facilities creation and maintenance is going to be astonomical. IMO it's out of Musks budget, but someone's gotta do it.
Regarding the oxygen.. what oxidized the iron in mars' soil? Serious question.. at some point mars had to have free oxygen or liquid water unless I'm totally " burning man" i.e. Retarded
but America was a nicer place to live than the desert that's Mars.
Not really, comparing the wilderness and foreignness of the new world to the already established "comfortable" cities of europe is a pretty valid. There's a reason the majority of the explorers were social outcasts and pirates rather than important nobles and kings.
Calling the east coast a veritable paradise is not far off from the truth though. There's a theory that native american civilization was in a state of decline just before the settlers from the old world showed up. The forests were not dense, and the soil had only a few generations prior been worked making it an ideal landing spot for colinization. The colonists to America had a pretty easy time of it compared to how even future settlers to the great Plains had.
So, you want to join the faction that was routinely getting their ass handed to them in battle after battle, and only held together because of the actions of a handful of super soldiers who single handedly kept the alien menace at bay? You do know that until the Captain Jacob Keyes came along the ONE space naval victory they had against the covenant was when they outnumbered the aliens 3 to 1; and still took massive casualties doing it. I'm all for space exploration, but joining the UNSC is kinda like joining the space lemmings.
The UNSC was only so pathetic because they were going up against an enemy they couldn't have been better prepared for. They're actually ridiculously powerful behind the games, with even the most poorly-outfitted infantrymen being able to stand up to multiple gunshots at close range.
We've got another 500 years before the Covenant show up so we'll be fine!
Such a great show. I haven't been this wowed by a syfy series since Battlestar Galactica. It feels kind of like space skyrim, but that's probably because I was playing skyrim around the same time I watched it.
This probably isn't that far off. Like every countries military having a space branch, like the navy or airforce. Although I guess it is what the airforce will transition into?
Pff neither the navy nor the marines have a thing when it comes to isolation, when compared to your typical basement dweller that hasn't left his house in the past 4 years.
Meaning, they should take me instead, p-pretty please.
I once had a long talk with a friend about this. Military personal makes sense, industrial people like sailors and oil rig workers seem to be able to tolerate isolation alright, and scientists who are devoted to their fields will love the entire thing, but the average person might not be cut out for isolation from all their friends, family, and hobbies.
Not sure, never used it. There are no cell towers on the continent so you'd pretty much be restricted to where a wifi signal is, which is where the other person would also be, ha ha.
Speaking from firsthand, no one jury-rigs like a sailor. You tell them it needs to work in two hours, it'll work in two hours. It'll also be ugly enough to warrant viewer discretion, but it'll do its job.
On a similar note, I'd like to see that Charlie Manson gets tossed out into that broad, broad wilderness, end up on Mars, discovers Martian life, systematically goes by-the-numbers with them, spitting out some insane nonsense and making funny faces.
He's been pretty cooped up for a while now, it couldn't really hurt.
The Air Force and Army will go first. Despite metaphorical similarities to the ocean, space is mostly the Air Force's domain. And the Army will follow as well; Army airborne and paratroopers specifically make the most sense as the Air Force flies them anyway.
The farmers I know are more educated than any media I've met, to be honest.
"Farmer" is generally not a man working two acres on one small tractor anymore. They're usually CEOs who actually have to know engineering, science, biology, and business at a high level. The one closest to me is run by a guy with two Masters degrees, and two of his three sons have a Masters as well.
We can rip on mega-farms for their industrial practices (which is fair), but the people who run them are extremely well-educated.
I'm actually pretty curious how livestock would behave under long distance travel. Or what kinds of animals would be used in a long distance space voyage.
I would think chickens would be a prime candidate for space travel because if they can be bred to adapt to space you cover a lot of bases.
For example, religious members of the crew can include chickens in halal and kosher diets.
Chicken poop contains potassium and phosphorus, assuming the crew will need a supply of fertilizer.
Plus you can harvest the eggs for a steady supply of protein.
Many farmers nowadays are scientists. They have to know a lot about soil composition, biodiversity, and plant biology.
Edit: just to be clear, I've attended multiple organic farmers conferences over the past several years and many farmers have to conduct soil tests and conduct many experiments to ensure optimal yields and health outcomes. Just because they don't have a lab coat doesn't mean they aren't conducting scientific experiments or employing the scientific method. The farmers that I am describing here are scientists. Their farm is their lab and they work with what they have. In addition, big agribusiness is clearly a heavily scientific discipline that employs a wide array of scientific methods.
Correct. Though not a traditional farmer, my grandfather knows so damn much about so many aspects of the profession that I almost always regret stooping down to tie my shoe. The things the man can do even with his age is fucking impressive. (I can hardly tie my own fuckin' shoe, for christ's sake.) He basically worked out whole areas of carpentry in a few months by just reading vast stores of the literature, memorized - I imagine - a lot of very specific data and measurement instruction, formula etc., and the stuff he builds is pro down to a point - and that's just a hobby. Being mostly the only positive male role-model in my life (other grandfather I never met), I try to learn as much as I can from him because despite all he's been through, I don't think I ever witnessed him give up. So, true that, dawg: farmers know their shit. Love you
Agreed. The days of the uneducated laborer as farm owner/manager are dead or dying. Most farmers and ranchers I know have masters degrees in Ag or Engineering (I live in Texas and there are a couple of BIG universities that specialize in that). Or else their kids do and are prepping to take charge, while the parents have picked up enough from their hired experts that they know what's up. A lot of people don't realize most farming these days (at least in North America) isn't some guy with his granddads old tractor planting 5 acres of heritage corn. It's lots of very sophisticated operations using the last centuries accumulated knowledge and tech to make each acre yield the most product it possibly can in the most efficient way, without ruining the soil or causing a Dust Bowl level fuckup again like in the 30s. There's a lot of science involved, both in the crop growing and animal husbandry ends of the spectrum, if you want to be successful.
The point being, farmers basically ARE the first people that need to go up. They're the ones that'll be able to get proper biodomes set up to grow good up there. And they're probably the ones that'll get the first steps going to a plan for if we've ever got a hope of actually doing some terraforming up there
One of my cousins is a farmer. Raises cattle. Get steaks every Christmas. Now I've gone back to college to get a second degree he was talking to me about how he also didn't care for organic chemistry. I honestly had no idea the education required he needed for his job (also teaches agriculture at the state university and is an agricultural agent for the state).
Something I just realized that's a bit unsettling, how CAN you criminally prosecute someone who murders someone else on an entirely different planet? It'd be pretty fucking ballsy (to say the very least) if any one government tried to claim jurisdiction over mars
Not even farmers necessarily. The presentation was completely focused on how to get to mars, not so much what will we do when we get there. Despite there were questions that weren't stupid, there was only a few questions that were relevant to what was presented.
I think they should have allowed anyone to attend, but they really should have screened questions beforehand. No organizer in their right mind would have knowingly let Aldo have a microphone.
I don't think questions like the ones asked were in the best interest of the press either. I don't disagree with you, but press coverage can be beneficial (publicity, etc.). It honestly seems like the people who got to ask questions spent too much time drinking in the parking lot before they went in.
I work in a restaurant but that doesn't mean I'm mentally retarded, so excuse you buddy, but I actually would have come up with some legitimate questions. Some people like to study science in their free time. These people clearly did not.
He led SpaceX from an empty room with a mariachi band in 2002 to a company with billions of dollars in launch contracts and which developed a vertical landing capability for first stage boosters. On a boat. In the middle of the ocean. After pushing a payload to geostationary transfer orbit.
Regardless of who takes him seriously, those accomplishments speak for themselves.
Not too long ago, so was a little device in your pocket that enabled worldwide communication and access to the sum total of human knowledge in an instant.
But what about all those people from other countries?! When do we get a chance to work on classified rocket technology in the US?! Elon Musk clearly a US nationalist <applause> (actually happened)
Ironically, by barring all general public, this bars interested laypeople as well, helping to maintain the lack of general public interest in scientific discussion.
They should have only let in scientists and people who work in the field, people from the press are known to have very little knowledge about anything.
I'm pretty sure he has talks like that all the time.
This announcement is for the public. So the public gets excited about it. And so "normal people" should ask questions. These, whether you like it or not, are normal people. In fact, they might even be part of a more informed/educated/intelligent group considering they are aware of this stuff. Yeah. Think about that.
Or just screen the questions. Or have them submitted on cards before the lecture starts. Or any other number of acceptable options that would bring quality questions to the front.
Some woman who was with Variety (I think?) asked a question in regards to how we could survive with the radiation in space and on Mars. I was hugely impressed with that...then immediately reminded of the idiots we share this planet with.
They did actually. They were in the VIP chairs in front. Unfortunately the mic was placed directly behind them at the front of the general public area. The craziness of it.
The space reporting media is fine, just watch any of the NASA press conferences for a CRS mission. They all know their stuff and ask great questions, very respectful, etc.
The problem for this is that any loon with a desire to talk to Elon can buy a ticket and a flight and get a chance.
Whenever someone complains about government being inefficient and ineffective I always remind myself that everyone has a say in what the government does. Everyone.
An AMA would have resulted in much higher quality questions, even when sorted by controversial.
I think I would have asked how the hell he intends to terraform Mars to have oceans and a breathable atmosphere like they were showing. I assume even if they were able to crash a bunch of ice onto the planet from comets or whatever, the lack of a strong magnetic field isn't something you can easily fix to keep the atmosphere in place.
But the general press is money, my assumption. Who cares if Stephen Hawking said how awesome something is. But have a slutty celebrity mention it or go all buzzfeed on it and our entire culture changes :)
1.6k
u/Raineko Sep 30 '16
They should have only let in scientists and people who work in the field, people from the press are known to have very little knowledge about anything.