The US needs to get itself into gear again... or else we might wake up to find that Mars is Red. *pun*
-------------------- "The best defense is not a good offense. The best defense is a terrifyingly accurate and devastatingly powerful offense, with multiply-overlapping kill zones and time-on-target artillery strikes." -- Laurence, Archangel of the Sword
Registered: Mar 1999
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Flower Man
Ex-Member
posted
I agree that NASA needs to get its shit together. I have heard that after China becomes the third nation capable of launching manned missions, China will be going for the title of being the 2nd nation ever to have landed a Human on the moon.
Who knows? If they do, it might spark another space race.
[ March 25, 2002, 19:45: Message edited by: Flower Man ]
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I wonder what the US would do if the Chinese went up there to the Sea of Tranquility, knocked over our flag, and put their own up...
Registered: Mar 1999
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If I woke up tomorrow and China had landed men on the moon, might anyone tell me how my life would be different/better/worse?
-------------------- "I was surprised by the matter-of-factness of Kafka's narration, and the subtle humor present as a result." (Sizer 2005)
Registered: Mar 1999
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You know, I don't think China ever signed the treaty disallowing claims of ownership of celestial bodies. They could CLAIM the moon.
-------------------- "This is why you people think I'm so unknowable. You don't listen!" - God, "God, the Devil and Bob"
Registered: Mar 1999
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And who'd recognize the claim? The Klingons?
-------------------- "I was surprised by the matter-of-factness of Kafka's narration, and the subtle humor present as a result." (Sizer 2005)
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
That would throw a monkeywrench into the political scene.
Anyway, Tom, your life would change not one whit. Not immediately, anyway. If the Chinese could come up with a way to profit from the Moon, then we might see something fun.
Registered: Mar 1999
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Flower Man
Ex-Member
posted
That treaty is going to be flushed down the toilet sooner or later anyways. As the population rises, and our natural resources dwindle down to nothing, we're going to have to begin mining operations on the moon and on the other planets of the solar system. This cannot be possible if it is illegal to stake claims on parts of other celestial bodies. The same can be said for Antarctica in all honesy. You cannot tell me that that entire continent doesn't have any deposites of useful minerals or metals.
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Mining the moon won't be economical until mining the Earth becomes bazillions of times more expensive than it is now. That'll only happen when we start to see wholesale resource scarcity. And considering that there's no shortage of whatever the moon's got on the Earth, I wouldn't get your hopes up for seeing a need to extract minerals from the moon in your lifetime.
-------------------- "I was surprised by the matter-of-factness of Kafka's narration, and the subtle humor present as a result." (Sizer 2005)
Registered: Mar 1999
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Not entirely true, I think, Tom. Mining on the Moon becomes far more economical than mining on Earth when you change the ultimate destination of the materials. Which is to say its much cheaper to send 100 kg of ore to Earth orbit from the Moon than it is from Earth.
Of course, that too is dependant upon there being some industry in space that needs those materials. So, we'll see.
Registered: Mar 1999
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Flower Man
Ex-Member
posted
I never said that it would happen within my lifetime. I'm just saying that when it does happen, that treaty will be flushed down the toilet.
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Well, I'm pleased that space travel has finally become a somewhat international feat, rather than a purely amero-centric one, as it has been for the past hundred million years. Except for Marc Garneau. And the CanadArm.
I hate Garneau. And Bondar. The Americans have like Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck as their Astronauts, not to mention John Glenn. I wonder if Garneau spilled nutmeg in the controls.
"Aw, jeez, eh. Hooston. It looks like we got a problem aboot the controls, unh."
And, if China can do the things that the USA does not, because the USA spends money on Shaquille O'Neal's basketballing and Britney Spears' Breast Augmentation, instead of paying the NASA men lots of the money, I say China == THE FUTURE.
Registered: Oct 1999
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