True, but HD video, audio capability and the first aircraft on another planet are pretty significant steps forward. As is the placement of the rover in an ancient lake bed in the search for signs of past life. First time that scientists have been able to actually watch the sky crane in operation as well, which was very cool.This neat an all...no question, but we've had pictures taken from the surface of Mars since 1976 and put a wheeled vehicle there in 1997.
I get it- but elsewhere (not here) I have seen a lot of people saying something like "first time we have seen the surface of Mars"....no. It's like saying that TV was invented when stations started broadcasting in 1080p.
Probably not, he wasn’t anywhere near the first man on Mars, there were twilight zone episodes filmed on Mars in the early 60s. I think Roddy McDowell was one of the first to actually walk on the surface, AND be in a television episode filmed there.Are they are going to take pictures of the flag Neil Armstrong planted?
~ 7 months each way....How long does it take or would it take to get a manned spaceship to Mars?
True, but HD video, audio capability and the first aircraft on another planet are pretty significant steps forward. As is the placement of the rover in an ancient lake bed in the search for signs of past life. First time that scientists have been able to actually watch the sky crane in operation as well, which was very cool.
Wait, I thought that was done in a studio?Are they are going to take pictures of the flag Neil Armstrong planted?
I prefer those who seek answers to those who think they already know everything. Just because the end result may not be a Walmart on Mars, that doesn't mean that there may not be interesting scientific data to be had on a planet that may very well have been much like earth billions of years ago. No great discovery was ever made by an incurious bean counter.I don't think it's significant. In fact, I think it's a lot of wasted money and effort. It's foolhardy.
Everything about Mars wants to kill any human who steps foot on there. What little is left of the atmosphere is unbreatheable. Combined with the lack of magnetic poles, solar radiation will poison you in short order without serious protection, which would take a monumental effort to provide.
Mineral resources would require massive excavation and processing systems, and would probably yield less benefit than just shipping raw materials there.
The soil wants to kill everything you try to plant there, and poison your lungs and kill you if you breathe it in.
I don't know why we continue to explore this dead planet. There is no future there for mankind.