Remember the "don't bomb the moon" panc? How long before "Don't NUKE Mars".

[Statistical]

The strong support for ending manned spaceflight on DU has left be disillusioned (although I wonder how much less supportive DU would be had it been Bush pulling the plug). The level of anti-science on DU is rather shocking. I remember the "don't bomb the moon" fiasco. I see now many people qualify their support as "cheap robots" but not "expensive humans". The next rover to Mars (scheduled for 2011 launch) is the Mars Science Laboratory. MSL-1 will be codenamed "Curiosity".



At 900kg it is much larger (5x) than any probe previously sent.



The baby in the middle is first Rover Sojourner which landed in 1997.
The one of the left is MER (Spirit & Opportunity) which landed in 2004.

The one of the right is the MSL which will be launched in 2011 and land in 2012.

To power the larger rover a power source with higher energy density is needed. The rover powerplant is a Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG). An RTG is a reactor that uses radioactive decay (rather than forced fission) to produce heat. The heat source is provided by the continual decay of 6 kg of Plutonium-238. The RTG directly converts the heat into electrical power. The advantage is the powerplant will provide power for 14 years (likely far longer than the probe survives).



Of course this involves putting a "nuke" (cause anything radioactive is a nuke to some people) on a rocket. Also the project cost is about $2.3 billion. While probes are cheaper they still are expensive.

I guess what worries me more than the lack of support for manned space flight is the slippery slope. How many will be against this "nuke bot". How many more will be against rovers in general once they find out they costs billions? How many more will say lets stop exploring Mars at all?

[LeftyMom]

1. That poster isn't on DU anymore, IYKWIM.

Whether Big Science's violent attack on her special female monthly moon mojo was involved is as yet unconfirmed.

[Statistical]

2. Sadly she wasn't unsupported.

http://dontbombthemoon.com/

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6712126

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6754735

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6726256

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=228x56451

[neverforget]

7. Those threads are awesome!

[drm604]

3. I really think it was a vocal minority.

The whole "bomb the moon" thing was silly, but I don't think there was ever anything more than a vocal minority on here complaining about it. I'm pretty sure that most of us realized that we weren't bombing the moon and that the impact projectile had no more force than many of the meteor strikes that occur there regularly. In fact, I recall some of the complainers changing their tune when the facts were explained to them.

I don't recall seeing much opposition to manned spaceflight on here, but I may have missed it.

[BlooInBloo]

4. (shrug) There's no stopping idiots from saying idiotic things. It's what idiots do, of course.

[Ian David]

5. I'm not afraid of nuking Mars. I'm afraid it will land on Earth and attack Steve Austin.

Six Million Dollar Man vs Death Probe part1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4st0a0gWp0

[neverforget]

8. I remember that episode that was so long ago.......

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. Some will even ask

BUT. BUT how long until MARS nukes Earth?

Sadly I am not kidding.

:-(