COUNT DOWN

[ladyhawk]

LET US WALK TO THE MOON AND FLY TO JUPITER.

 

[Catastrophe]

"Learn to walk before you can fly" comes to mind.

Cat

 

[Charlotte Bridgestone]

With such development of modern technologies - I guess flying to Jupiter(at least sending rovers to one of its moons) is only the question of time I am excited about the idea that sooner or later humanity will be able to explore more precisely something farther than Moon and Mars.

 

[CCooper96]

With such development of modern technologies - I guess flying to Jupiter(at least sending rovers to one of its moons) is only the question of time I am excited about the idea that sooner or later humanity will be able to explore more precisely something farther than Moon and Mars.

We should obligatory send a rover and then a mission to Europa because it can have extraterrestrial life.

 

[Catastrophe]

We should obligatory send a rover and then a mission to Europa because it can have extraterrestrial life.

I would have thought that the only real interesting question is whether there is any form of life there. If that be true, surely the least intrusive means of investigation would be preferable? Not to mention that this would probably be orders of magnitude less expensive than a mission.

Cat

 

[Charlotte Bridgestone]

I guess that it is very likely that the most primitive forms of life will be found there. The question is how long will it take to find out for sure and how difficult these studies will be Anyway such possibility sounds exciting for me

 

[TurckFG]

So what if there's life on Europa? What are we going to do with it? It will be a horrible place to live - 100 times more difficult and dangerous than Mars.
Let's get back to basics... Let's tackle the moon first (we haven't set foot there in 52 years), learn to live there in low gravity and without free oxygen and water before we start on inhabiting Mars or flying to Jupiter. The Moon is a much better place than Earth for a launch-pad into space, and to Mars in particular.
We can also "save the world" by mining asteroids and other small bodies instead of digging in our own patch for essential materials.

 

[Wolfshadw]

So what if there's life on Europa?

If there is life on Europa, even primitive life, it improves the odds that life is prevalent throughout the universe. It brings us one step closer to the age old question, "Are we alone?".

As for the rest of your comment, I agree. We should be talking more about Lunar bases than setting foot on Mars.

-Wolf sends

 

[Charlotte Bridgestone]

I absolutely agree with your words, Wolfshadw! I began to type the same idea in answer to TurckFG as I am of the opinion as you said. Of course we should start exploring more realistic places like Moon and Mars. I mentioned moons of giants only like next step after success with closer objects.

 

[CCooper96]

Why do people set so unrealistic goals? Isn't it better to explore planets gradually, one by one, starting with Moon, then Mars, and so on?

 

[Catastrophe]

Well, after Moon and Mars, there is a large gap to the next bit of exploring. Venus has problems, unless you want to float in a sulphuric acid atmosphere, and the outer planet moons won't warm up much more for 4-5 billion years.

You can have a nice subaqua colony surrounded by water not much above freezing, but not much else, on Jupiter/Saturn/Neptune moons, but when they do warm up (4-5 by) you will find yourself in one all encompassing ocean. No land there!

So (assuming you have a few billion years to spare) you really only have Moon and Mars. Much more comfortable to stay at home - send one of those nasty robot things and a tv camera!

If you are really bored, invent one of those impossible thingy drives and go to the Andromeda Nebula. I hear the holiday resorts are quite inexpensive there. Plenty of green stars too if you are an environmentalist.

Cat

 

[dsnyrocketengine]

Logic and Logistics would suggest Mars would be next after our moon. Would Jupiter even support a landing craft? after all its a gaseous surface but maybe one of its moons- time shall tell.

 

[Catastrophe]

"Would Jupiter even support a landing craft? after all its a gaseous surface but maybe one of its moons- time shall tell."

Gas giants - leave well alone.

Escape velocity (km/s)

59.5

5.32

That's for Jupiter.

As for outer moons - watch your trajectory as you go in.

Cat

 

[Catastrophe]

If you ever landed on Jupiter, withan escape velocity more than 5 times Earth's, would you be able to carry enough fuel ever to get off again.

Cat

 

[Lariliss]

Well, after Moon and Mars, there is a large gap to the next bit of exploring. Venus has problems, unless you want to float in a sulphuric acid atmosphere, and the outer planet moons won't warm up much more for 4-5 billion years.

You can have a nice subaqua colony surrounded by water not much above freezing, but not much else, on Jupiter/Saturn/Neptune moons, but when they do warm up (4-5 by) you will find yourself in one all encompassing ocean. No land there!

So (assuming you have a few billion years to spare) you really only have Moon and Mars. Much more comfortable to stay at home - send one of those nasty robot things and a tv camera!

If you are really bored, invent one of those impossible thingy drives and go to the Andromeda Nebula. I hear the holiday resorts are quite inexpensive there. Plenty of green stars too if you are an environmentalist.

Cat

I am coming to think from not an extreme point.

Colonizing Venus with floating cities is still long time a hot and open topic. Dropping lots of imaginative speculations, speaking about real research implications. There is a lot of 'calculated' cases behind. They are not to be realized as easy and fast as Mars, for example, because there is no use cases of existing technology.
In the same time the word 'colonization' brings to minds long inhabited cities rather than start with a stations, which can be visited by human for a short term. Exploration stepping, not leaping yet.

Still our raising the bar have been foreseeing through centuries

 

[Catastrophe]

The problem with Venus, about 50 miles up in the clouds, is not temperature or pressure (they are both Earth-like) but sulphuric acid and winds. The suggestions I read about were for 'air balloon' type vehicles. Are the winds as bad as this everythere up there?

And from what we've seen, the weather on Venus is very extreme. The entire atmosphere of the planet circulates around quickly, with winds reaching speeds of up to 85 m/s (300 km/h; 186.4 mph) at the cloud tops, which circle the planet every four to five Earth days.5 Dec 2016

What is the weather like on Venus? - Phys.org

Cat






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[Lariliss]

The problem with Venus, about 50 miles up in the clouds, is not temperature or pressure (they are both Earth-like) but sulphuric acid and winds. The suggestions I read about were for 'air balloon' type vehicles. Are the winds as bad as this everythere up there?

And from what we've seen, the weather on Venus is very extreme. The entire atmosphere of the planet circulates around quickly, with winds reaching speeds of up to 85 m/s (300 km/h; 186.4 mph) at the cloud tops, which circle the planet every four to five Earth days.5 Dec 2016
What is the weather like on Venus? - Phys.org

Cat






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Fully agree, there is no one vision, one solution. Thank you.

 

[Catastrophe]

"the word 'colonization' brings to minds long inhabited cities rather than start with a stations, which can be visited by human for a short term. Exploration stepping, not leaping yet."

You are exactly right. So many times people talk about terraforming. This is just completely out of the question for eons, if not forever. Colonisation is problem enough - and don't forget the long term effects of being off Earth. There is only one planet open to us for terraforming in the short term.

Colonisation will be dependant on Earth for a long term.

Cat

 

[Catastrophe]

Just to rescue you from loads of advert phone numbers.

Cat

 

[Lariliss]

Just to rescue you from loads of advert phone numbers.

Cat

Great big thank-you!

 

[Catastrophe]

OP suggested: "LET US WALK TO THE MOON AND FLY TO JUPITER."

Well, no roads to the Moon yet. Well have to wait for some satellites to appear to line up long enough to build a bridge. As to Jupiter - same old answer - let's grow wings.

Cat