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NASA remains silent on why crew went to hospital after dragon splashdown

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Re: NASA remains silent on why crew went to hospital after dragon splashdown

#101

Post by kfajdsl »

sgt101 wrote: post #96
ck2 wrote: post #64

We already know that low-gravity causes all kinds of bone and muscle weakness and even messes with eyesight in a dramatic manner. The scary part is while the bones/muscles can be healed over time, the eyesight problems persist and appear to be irreversible. They have to solve this before trips to Mars will be possible, unless they are going to simulate gravity by constantly (slowly) accelerating half-way there and th…

I looked into manned Mars missions in a fit of enthusiasm 30 years or so, and I concluded that we couldn't do it because landing a human + life support on Mars requires deceleration technology we just don't have. Basically the speed of a Martian orbiter needs to be reduced to 0 or so to avoid splatting the human, but Mars' atmosphere is so thin that parachutes just don't provide the required break. Has that now chang…

Um, the moon also has no atmosphere. We were able to land on that in the 60's.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VTVL.

Lots of things to be worried about for a Mars trip, landing probably isn't really one of them.

Re: NASA remains silent on why crew went to hospital after dragon splashdown

#102

Post by mort96 »

tsss wrote: post #100
mort96 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're not going to be able to escape climate change hell on earth by going to mars. You're not transferring 8 billion people to mars this century. The extremely optimistic scenario is that a small group of select rich people and explorers will be able to go to mars and live there self-sufficiently this century, but "we", as in 99.99% of humans, will have to deal with conditions on earth as they are.

Why would anyone want to go to Mars? Are people now so hysterical that they honestly believe Earth after climate change would be less habitable than Mars, a desert planet with no air?

I don't know. Certain people have this idea that we have mars as a "back-up planet" if things get too bad on earth. Musk has been saying that for example. I think Musk says it to generate hype for his ventures, but I think others believe it because it's comforting to believe that no matter how bad things get here, we have an alternative.

The reality is of course that, at least for the foreseeable future, certainly for the duration of the lives of everyone alive today, there is no back-up planet. And honestly, given how climate change is progressing, that's scary.

Re: NASA remains silent on why crew went to hospital after dragon splashdown

#104

Post by FollowingTheDao »

maxerickson wrote: post #88
mort96 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're not going to be able to escape climate change hell on earth by going to mars. You're not transferring 8 billion people to mars this century. The extremely optimistic scenario is that a small group of select rich people and explorers will be able to go to mars and live there self-sufficiently this century, but "we", as in 99.99% of humans, will have to deal with conditions on earth as they are.

You need a huge group of people to even vaguely approach self sufficiency, or multiple generational advances in manufacturing. For example, if you are importing microchips, you are not self sufficient.

If I gave the impression that I thought we could go to Mars, I’m sorry, because I don’t think that realistic at all.

Re: NASA remains silent on why crew went to hospital after dragon splashdown

#105

Post by FollowingTheDao »

tsss wrote: post #100
mort96 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're not going to be able to escape climate change hell on earth by going to mars. You're not transferring 8 billion people to mars this century. The extremely optimistic scenario is that a small group of select rich people and explorers will be able to go to mars and live there self-sufficiently this century, but "we", as in 99.99% of humans, will have to deal with conditions on earth as they are.

Why would anyone want to go to Mars? Are people now so hysterical that they honestly believe Earth after climate change would be less habitable than Mars, a desert planet with no air?

Yes.

https://aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org/features/selling-mars-as-p...

Re: NASA remains silent on why crew went to hospital after dragon splashdown

#106

Post by FollowingTheDao »

ForHackernews wrote: post #99
echoangle wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You think people would freak out if NASA told them „you guys won’t be able to go to mars to escape earth“?

Elon Musk would. It's like his whole deal.

Yes, he talks about it all the time

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/03/27/elon-musk-mars-c....

Re: NASA remains silent on why crew went to hospital after dragon splashdown

#107

Post by mft_ »

aaron695 wrote: post #62

Suni Williams who is still in orbit, has lost a lot of weight. I wonder if it's related to that. Trying to find a commonality. This quote was interesting, not sure exactly how true it is - "Due to changes in metabolism, astronauts consume twice as many calories as an ordinary person: just to maintain their current weight, it takes about 4 thousand calories per day. Williams, doctors suggest, will need about 5 thousan…

Do we understand why? As in, what’s the mechanism behind the ‘changes in metabolism’?

Re: NASA remains silent on why crew went to hospital after dragon splashdown

#108

Post by s1artibartfast »

mort96 wrote: post #102
tsss wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would anyone want to go to Mars? Are people now so hysterical that they honestly believe Earth after climate change would be less habitable than Mars, a desert planet with no air?

I don't know. Certain people have this idea that we have mars as a "back-up planet" if things get too bad on earth. Musk has been saying that for example. I think Musk says it to generate hype for his ventures, but I think others believe it because it's comforting to believe that no matter how bad things get here, we have an alternative. The reality is of course that, at least for the foreseeable future, certainly fo…

I think you are making a strawman of the position. Nobody thinks we will be able to just move to Mars in our lifetime.

Some people think it is important to spread the human race beyond earth. It isn't about climate change.

Re: NASA remains silent on why crew went to hospital after dragon splashdown

#109

Post by s1artibartfast »

ForHackernews wrote: post #99
echoangle wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You think people would freak out if NASA told them „you guys won’t be able to go to mars to escape earth“?

Elon Musk would. It's like his whole deal.

This is delusional. Elon's "whole deal" is not that people will leave Earth en masse to escape climate change. That is a delusional interpretation of what he says

Re: NASA remains silent on why crew went to hospital after dragon splashdown

#110

Post by mort96 »

s1artibartfast wrote: post #108
mort96 wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know. Certain people have this idea that we have mars as a "back-up planet" if things get too bad on earth. Musk has been saying that for example. I think Musk says it to generate hype for his ventures, but I think others believe it because it's comforting to believe that no matter how bad things get here, we have an alternative. The reality is of course that, at least for the foreseeable future, certainly fo…

I think you are making a strawman of the position. Nobody thinks we will be able to just move to Mars in our lifetime. Some people think it is important to spread the human race beyond earth. It isn't about climate change.

There is no singular "the position", there are multiple people with different positions. Some just want to see humanity become a multi-planetary species this millennium, which is a perfectly sensible goal. Others imagine going to mars as a solution to climate change.
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