[PCWorld]

Post your comments for 4 Updates from Mars here

[BrotherArtGman]

Wonderful! Your rover's name is "Curiosity," you say; that's just what I need here, where I live. You see, we have endless, feral cats -- hence, the saying, "Curiosity killed ...!"

[johngeorge]

just what i've been waiting on. updates from a 4.5 billion dollar waste of taxpayer money. mars? we really needed to go to mars? what for? does mars have gasoline? does mars have water? gold? is this nasa's dream? mars? does mars offer jobs? will mars feed the people out of work? will mars buy them homes for there children? oh i get it mars has 401k plans correct? mars is our future correct? everyone can retire rich when it comes back from mars right? john george columbus ohio

[JoeDutra]

If that vehicle doesn't do better than this, I want my money back!

[StuartM]

johngeorge, on 12 August 2012 - 03:48 PM, said:

just what i've been waiting on. updates from a 4.5 billion dollar waste of taxpayer money. mars? we really needed to go to mars? what for? does mars have gasoline? does mars have water? gold? is this nasa's dream? mars? does mars offer jobs? will mars feed the people out of work? will mars buy them homes for there children? oh i get it mars has 401k plans correct? mars is our future correct? everyone can retire rich when it comes back from mars right? john george columbus ohio

There is a saying "Knowledge is its own reward." It sounds like you have been chasing after the wrong rewards.

[MichaelGonzales]

Oh George, it takes a real grinch to reduce an incredible human achievement and try to denounce it in terms of monetary return. First of all, 4.5 billion is incorrect...its 2.5 billion, spread over 8 years with a large portion of that going to pay the salaries of the incredible engineers working on this project. If you just divide the total cost by the number of years NASA has saved for it, you come out with about $312 million per year. That’s about $1 per year for every American.

If 1$ per year is too much to advance human civilization, then the human race is truly doomed. If you consider this mission a "waste" while freely giving half of your taxes to a defense budget (that uses NASA developed technology no less) which is more than the next 26 countries combines (25 of which are allies), then your priorities are very confused.

And to Joe: this is only its 2nd week in operation. How about you give it more time than it took you to drop out of highschool before you freak out.

People like you make me not want to live on this planet anymore.

[DanielGlenn]

johngeorge, on 12 August 2012 - 03:48 PM, said:

just what i've been waiting on. updates from a 4.5 billion dollar waste of taxpayer money. mars? we really needed to go to mars? what for? does mars have gasoline? does mars have water? gold? is this nasa's dream? mars? does mars offer jobs? will mars feed the people out of work? will mars buy them homes for there children? oh i get it mars has 401k plans correct? mars is our future correct? everyone can retire rich when it comes back from mars right? john george columbus ohio

Just how much of the Federal budget do you think NASA is given?

Seriously, those who wouldn't have spent money on the astrophysics and the space program in the past would give up:
GPS, MRI, America's technology economy (think about there never being an Apple, Google or Facebook), renewable energy etc. Sometime you should go through your house and strip it of everything that resulted from the Space program. You'd be a technological popper.

But you most would give up is the inspiration that doubled the number of students banging down the science classroom doors back when we were going to the moon and led to the innovation economy (Google, Apple, the Internet etc.). Take away the force that inspires people to inovate and we all might as well slide on back to the cave.



BTW, it was 2.5 billion.

[Robb99nd]

johngeorge, on 12 August 2012 - 03:48 PM, said:

just what i've been waiting on. updates from a 4.5 billion dollar waste of taxpayer money. mars? we really needed to go to mars? what for? does mars have gasoline? does mars have water? gold? is this nasa's dream? mars? does mars offer jobs? will mars feed the people out of work? will mars buy them homes for there children? oh i get it mars has 401k plans correct? mars is our future correct? everyone can retire rich when it comes back from mars right? john george columbus ohio

People were saying the same things when the monarchs decided to fund voyages by Christopher Columbus. I guess that was a big waste of money huh? Your statement is very ignorant on multiple levels. The entire running budget of NASA since its inception is less than that of the stimulus package which has proven to have completely failed at achieving any progress in the economy whatsoever. What has NASA done? Please do a simple google search and look at the myriad of scientific/technological advances that NASA is directly responsible for. After that, please insert foot in mouth.

[CharlesNeal]

johngeorge, on 12 August 2012 - 03:48 PM, said:

just what i've been waiting on. updates from a 4.5 billion dollar waste of taxpayer money. mars? we really needed to go to mars? what for? does mars have gasoline? does mars have water? gold? is this nasa's dream? mars? does mars offer jobs? will mars feed the people out of work? will mars buy them homes for there children? oh i get it mars has 401k plans correct? mars is our future correct? everyone can retire rich when it comes back from mars right? john george columbus ohio

When you hear about projects with a price tag such as this one, do you not consider that a significant portion of that money was used to pay people for the hours they spent designing and building not only the rover itself but the rocket to carry it there? People needed to maintain the integrity of the systems in the clean rooms? The trucks that brought in parts manufactured by small business? So yes, in effect, this mars mission, and the others that follow, allow people to obtain most everything you mentioned.

A waste of taxpayer money is more like welfare for those who have never worked, and will always refuse to do so as long as free handout is available!

-Nick Neal, Cape Canaveral, FL

[Fredso]

johngeorge, on 12 August 2012 - 03:48 PM, said:

just what i've been waiting on. updates from a 4.5 billion dollar waste of taxpayer money. mars? we really needed to go to mars? what for? does mars have gasoline? does mars have water? gold? is this nasa's dream? mars? does mars offer jobs? will mars feed the people out of work? will mars buy them homes for there children? oh i get it mars has 401k plans correct? mars is our future correct? everyone can retire rich when it comes back from mars right? john george columbus ohio

Let me get this straight, we shouldn't do anything to advance science unless everyone in the US has everything they desire?

I refer to this as the Lowest Common Denominator syndrome. It's everywhere you look in society these days. You can't have advanced classes for smart kids, you can't have sinks or counters at a normal height, you can't have normal volume (or none at all) at the self checkout stations, it goes on and on. So much of what we do falls back to the lowest common denominator in our society and it's just plain sad.

I am very proud of our country and the fantastic accomplishment. Considering they have to deal with people like you it's even more impressive that they are able to pull this off. They were smart enough to not allow people like you to vote on this.

[JoeDutra]

"Geology That Looks Like Death Valley"

You aren't serious, are you? It looks nothing like the Death Valley most of us are familiar with. Is there another DV we should know about?

[KellicTiger]

"It’s a pretty big deal considering the remote update is happening from 350 million miles away and if something goes wrong it could mean the last contact anyone has with Curiosity."

*sighs* It has a backup CPU and computer.

[KellicTiger]

johngeorge, on 12 August 2012 - 03:48 PM, said:

just what i've been waiting on. updates from a 4.5 billion dollar waste of taxpayer money. mars? we really needed to go to mars? what for? does mars have gasoline? does mars have water? gold? is this nasa's dream? mars? does mars offer jobs? will mars feed the people out of work? will mars buy them homes for there children? oh i get it mars has 401k plans correct? mars is our future correct? everyone can retire rich when it comes back from mars right? john george columbus ohio

George. NASA's budge is 0.48% of the overall Federal Budget. Defense spending is aprox 20% or 718 BILLION. STFU you ignorant red neck. You want to complain about something? Complain about something that costs more then the Olympic Games. Yes. The cost of this probe is less then a quarter of the cost of the Olympic games. Only red necks think that knowledge isn't important.

[christopherkrow]

johngeorge, on 12 August 2012 - 03:48 PM, said:

just what i've been waiting on. updates from a 4.5 billion dollar waste of taxpayer money. mars? we really needed to go to mars? what for? does mars have gasoline? does mars have water? gold? is this nasa's dream? mars? does mars offer jobs? will mars feed the people out of work? will mars buy them homes for there children? oh i get it mars has 401k plans correct? mars is our future correct? everyone can retire rich when it comes back from mars right? john george columbus ohio

Mars is INSPIRATION.. You sir could use some.

[GradyPhilpott]

johngeorge, on 12 August 2012 - 03:48 PM, said:

just what i've been waiting on. updates from a 4.5 billion dollar waste of taxpayer money. mars? we really needed to go to mars? what for? does mars have gasoline? does mars have water? gold? is this nasa's dream? mars? does mars offer jobs? will mars feed the people out of work? will mars buy them homes for there children? oh i get it mars has 401k plans correct? mars is our future correct? everyone can retire rich when it comes back from mars right? john george columbus ohio

I hear there's are rich reserves of punctuation marks and and capital letters on Mars and the plan is to bring some home to Earth to distribute to those who need them.

[Hawkieey]

Congrats NASA.. I am really happy of the advancements you plural are achieving for the whole civilization just by a controlled robot. Fabulous, really amazing. May be sometimes i will like to be involved in that kind of activities.

[Hawkieey]

Congrats NASA.. I am really happy of the advancements you plural are achieving for the whole civilization just by a controlled robot. Fabulous, really amazing. May be sometimes i will like to be involved in that kind of activities.

[crosswordbob]

johngeorge, on 12 August 2012 - 03:48 PM, said:

just what i've been waiting on. updates from a 4.5 billion dollar waste of taxpayer money. mars? we really needed to go to mars? what for? does mars have gasoline? does mars have water? gold? is this nasa's dream? mars? does mars offer jobs? will mars feed the people out of work? will mars buy them homes for there children? oh i get it mars has 401k plans correct? mars is our future correct? everyone can retire rich when it comes back from mars right? john george columbus ohio

How do you think the computer you posted this drivel from was developed? Research into jobs? Oil? Gold? No—it came from research in quantum physics that was conducted quite independently of any specific goal, but was what the hard of thinking tend to dismiss as "science for science's sake". How many innovations have been developed purely in support of this mission? And who knows what new knowledge it will bring us?

"Science for science's sake" has done more to boost the world's economies than virtually any direct spending of the sort you allude to.

[Chesternn4s]

Re: GradyPhilPott
Just how are you logging on here?
Have you thought about the fact that the very microcircuits that you're using to communicate were perfected by/for the space program?! Where would we be if we didn't have the computer industry, which was very much enhanced by NASA's requirements for light, highly reliable solid-state components leading to the modern computer industry as we know it today? How about the billions that are saved every year due to the weather satellites that give advance-warning of approaching storms? How about the farmers who save further billions annualy due to earth-viewing satellites that clearly show their own crops in virtually real time for irrigation, disease and insect prevention? How about the thousands of people around the world that are saved due to similar satellites, and the GPS technology that is used by virtually even country on earth!

The following is a (very) partial list of RECENT spin-offs of the space industry:

1 Health and medicine
1.1 Light-emitting diodes (LEDs)
1.2 Infrared ear thermometers
1.3 Ventricular assist device
1.4 Artificial limbs

2 Transportation
2.1 Aircraft anti-icing systems
2.2 Highway safety
2.3 Improved radial tires
2.4 Chemical detection

3 Public safety
3.1 Video enhancing and analysis systems
3.2 Fire-resistant reinforcement
3.3 Firefighting equipment

4 Consumer, home, and recreation
4.1 Temper foam
4.2 Enriched baby food
4.3 Portable cordless vacuums
4.4 Freeze drying

5 Environmental and agricultural resources
5.1 Water purification
5.2 Solar energy
5.3 Pollution remediation

6 Computer technology
6.1 Structural analysis software
6.2 Remotely controlled ovens
6.3 NASA Visualization Explorer
6.4 Space Race Blastoff

7 Industrial productivity
7.1 Powdered lubricants
7.2 Improved mine safety
7.3 Food safety

You may also wish to know that NASAs total budget is less than 1/50 that of the defense department! Ohhh, and the Mars Science Laboratory Mission (Curiousity) costs $2.5, not $4.5 billion!

[crosswordbob]

Chesternn4s, on 12 August 2012 - 06:30 PM, said:

Re: GradyPhilPott
Just how are you logging on here?
Have you thought about the fact that the very microcircuits that you're using to communicate were perfected by/for the space program?! Where would we be if we didn't have the computer industry, which was very much enhanced by NASA's requirements for light, highly reliable solid-state components leading to the modern computer industry as we know it today? How about the billions that are saved every year due to the weather satellites that give advance-warning of approaching storms? How about the farmers who save further billions annualy due to earth-viewing satellites that clearly show their own crops in virtually real time for irrigation, disease and insect prevention? How about the thousands of people around the world that are saved due to similar satellites, and the GPS technology that is used by virtually even country on earth!

The following is a (very) partial list of RECENT spin-offs of the space industry:

1 Health and medicine
1.1 Light-emitting diodes (LEDs)
1.2 Infrared ear thermometers
1.3 Ventricular assist device
1.4 Artificial limbs

2 Transportation
2.1 Aircraft anti-icing systems
2.2 Highway safety
2.3 Improved radial tires
2.4 Chemical detection

3 Public safety
3.1 Video enhancing and analysis systems
3.2 Fire-resistant reinforcement
3.3 Firefighting equipment

4 Consumer, home, and recreation
4.1 Temper foam
4.2 Enriched baby food
4.3 Portable cordless vacuums
4.4 Freeze drying

5 Environmental and agricultural resources
5.1 Water purification
5.2 Solar energy
5.3 Pollution remediation

6 Computer technology
6.1 Structural analysis software
6.2 Remotely controlled ovens
6.3 NASA Visualization Explorer
6.4 Space Race Blastoff

7 Industrial productivity
7.1 Powdered lubricants
7.2 Improved mine safety
7.3 Food safety

You may also wish to know that NASAs total budget is less than 1/50 that of the defense department! Ohhh, and the Mars Science Laboratory Mission (Curiousity) costs $2.5, not $4.5 billion!

This post cannot be recommended enoigh.