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Artemis II crew see first glimpse of far side of Moon [video]

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Re: Artemis II crew see first glimpse of far side of Moon [video]

#131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People are struggling to afford every day life and we are surrounding by crazy things every day like cellphones talking to satellites in space. On any objective measure it is definitely amazing to send humans to the moon, but there are more pressing issues for most people right now. If we as a species had more of our ducks in a row we may be able to better celebrate this as the achievement for humankind that it is.

people have been struggling to afford every day life for decades. So that’s nothing new. Unless only people in the 1st world count as people lol. You’re either emotionally consumed by the human struggle or not, it’s a personality thing - in my opinion. You’re allowed to be poor and a nerd, unless I missed the memo. I’ve met poor and wealthy people that are excited by space.

Struggling to meet our basic needs is not a recent phenomenon. It has been a part of the human condition for millenia, not just decades.

Some people think that if we can just eliminate our 'struggles' by building AI tools to do the hard thinking or robots to perform all our labor; that civilization would become some kind of utopia. I don't believe that. Progress happens when we do hard things.

Re: Artemis II crew see first glimpse of far side of Moon [video]

#132
post #6

I'm going to be VERY disappointed if there's no Pink Floyd music or commentary from the Artemis mission. Particularly now. Life's short, and one can't be serious all the time... Wallis and Gromit would be a partial substitute, but the boomers are still around.

I wish the crew quoted "there is no dark side of the moon really. As a matter of fact, it's all dark."

It's true, too. Lunar albedo is 12%.

https://www.ign.com/articles/2015/08/05/nasa-releases-a-gif-...

Re: Artemis II crew see first glimpse of far side of Moon [video]

#133

I like how most people's reactions at this point are "yeah, whatever", as if it's every day that humans observe the far side of the moon with a naked eye through a window :). We do know what it looks like and we have photos from the surface, yes, but seeing the reaction from real people who're actually there does hit different, at least for me

People are struggling to afford every day life and we are surrounding by crazy things every day like cellphones talking to satellites in space. On any objective measure it is definitely amazing to send humans to the moon, but there are more pressing issues for most people right now. If we as a species had more of our ducks in a row we may be able to better celebrate this as the achievement for humankind that it is.

I see that "whitey on the moon" is back.

If it makes you feel better, the amount of money the United States spends on space is a very small percentage compared overall entitlement spending. There is always going to be some level of inequality, so your maxim that we should only spend money on space exploration when those problems are solved just isn't workable. The enormous amount of money the United States spends on "solving" inequality and poverty begs the question of if that's even an effective or efficient allocation of resources in the first place.

Re: Artemis II crew see first glimpse of far side of Moon [video]

#134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it's amazing, but I'll refer you to Gil Scott-Heron for my feelings on the matter A rat done bit my sister Nell With whitey on the moon Her face and arms began to swell And whitey's on the moon I can't pay no doctor bills But whitey's on the moon Ten years from now I'll be payin' still While whitey's on the moon The man just upped my rent last night Cause whitey's on the moon No hot water, no toilets, no lights But w…

The author of this poem went to great lengths to show his racism. It reminds me of a post, probably on Reddit, of a similar racist nature. Just when it's going in the other direction it's clearer. The post was by a man, supposedly white, who had to pull his child or children from private school because he could not pay for it. His frustration was based on the fact that his taxes were higher than the school tuition, a…

He could be expressing the generational frustration of being black in America. When things are so segregated you feel you are looking across at a different country landing on the moon, you might write such a poem.

Re: Artemis II crew see first glimpse of far side of Moon [video]

#136
post #66

Latest published image of the moon: https://www.nasa.gov/image-detail/amf-art002e009006/ Photo and video gallery: https://www.nasa.gov/gallery/journey-to-the-moon/

Will Elon set up a lot of colorful and blinking billboards to make it less grey?

Re: Artemis II crew see first glimpse of far side of Moon [video]

#137
post #77

On one of Apollo missions they've read from Bible, Book of Genesis [1]. I wish they did something like that here - and I'm not even a Christian, let alone religious. They did relay some beautiful message [2] though. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4tDZye57D4 [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELslc6O4UVk

I sure hope they don't. Even just the hint of connecting this achievement to the supposed Christian nature of the US would reinforce a lot of the bad things in the world right now. Namely, that we're actively at war in the middle east (Christianity and Judaism vs Islam), in a burgeoning cold war with China (more Christianity vs "godless" communists), and run by an increasingly fascistic administration (the ties betwe…

I'm more worried about Chinese fascism than the American kind.

Re: Artemis II crew see first glimpse of far side of Moon [video]

#138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking for myself (who has been fascinated with the space program since I was a small child), any joy I might feel around Artemis II feels tainted, by the immense amount of pork involved (SLS is called "Senate Launch System" for good reason) to the point where Artemis is more corporate welfare that happens to involve the Moon than a real space program, and by my belief that it is intended to be little more than a q…

I ran across this video[0] yesterday with Neil deGrasse Tyson talking about how it’s always been political. The first moon landing was more about global politics than science. As a child you likely weren’t concerned about that side of it, or were shielded from it. It isn’t always the purist motivations that push the human race forward, but forward it moves us. [0] https://youtu.be/j_AlXChA9F4

> more about global politics than science

I had a great Prof during my bachelor from Russia - this is what he always told -> and it makes sense: Back then was cold war

Re: Artemis II crew see first glimpse of far side of Moon [video]

#139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not a Christian, but it was arguably the Christian value system which forged the government and institutions that made these achievements possible. Such progress happens only in high trust societies.

> but it was arguably the Christian value system which forged the government and institutions that made these achievements possible. Many of the founders were specifically anti-Christian. They were deists, and believed in a higher power, but specifically rejected the idea of a divine intervention of God or Jesus. Christians do not own the idea of being nice to others and trusting others.

Of the 45 delegates to the continental congress, only two (Benjamin Franklin and another) were known to be deists. One's membership records couldn't be found. The other 42 were active members and on the books in their churches.[0]

Jefferson also was a deist, but he wasn't present at the constitutional convention of 1787 (though he earlier authored the Declaration of Independence).

[0] M. E. Bradford. Founding Fathers: Brief Lives of the Framers of the United States Constitution, second edition. University Press of Kansas, 1994.

Re: Artemis II crew see first glimpse of far side of Moon [video]

#140
post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Kind of a false dichotomy. That’s precisely my point. Some stanzas in the poem suggest that there’s a direct connection between the moon mission and his poverty. > The man just upped my rent last night > cause Whitey’s on the moon > Was all that money I made last year > For Whitey on the moon? And my point then was that I can see and empathize with his frustration, but I don’t feel it’s a singularly correct perspec…

But he's not blaming his poverty on "whitey on the moon" but the lack of healthcare. There is an opportunity cost to war, Moon/Mars missions etc.

I don’t mean to badger, but how can this stanza:

> The man just upped my rent last night > cause Whitey’s on the moon

Be interpreted as anything other than directly blaming his poverty on the moon mission?

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