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(with all respects to Chuck Heston)

the first words spoken by humans on Mars in 40 years or so:

"Get your hands off of me, you damn dirty ape!"



On a more serious note, doing the Laika thing in this enlightened age would be nothing but a PR nightmare of the highest proportions.
Wwaaayyy to much vodka consumed the night they dreamed up that one.

It's a great idea, and worthy of pursuing.

[POLITICAL COMMENTS AND MANNED VS UNMANNED DISCUSSION DELETED]
Forum Guidlines

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The largest problem to space exploration these days is that there are far more people who give reasons why we can't do this sort of thing. Truly extraordinary things are ignored for such stuff as Eurovision and American idol.

The list of why we can't send a probe to Europa, return humans to the moon, put something in orbit around Triton, or have humans set foot on Mars is never ending these days. It is far better to just watch SF films about such things it seems. The West is falling, and this is the sort of thing that is a symptom.

Thank god people like Hawking still can show why we SHOULD do such things. I only hope it is not futile.

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image quote not needed and removed.


That is one of the finest images in the history of spaceflight. Period.

There is an oppourtunity for an opposing view to be imaged as a companian to this set.
Although not identical, it still might be useful for comparison.

I know that a lot of people on this forum dislike (or even hate) the VSE. Some people will hate Mike Griffin for being its biggest supporter.

That said, no one can accuse him of not knowing what he is talking about, or being misinformed. They can only sincerely disagree with him. He spoke recently at great length philosophically about the difference between "science" and "exploration" just a few days back in a speech outlining his personal opinions on the matter and how such things (among others) are guiding principals for him in the decisions being made at NASA. Make no mistake: this guy is at the helm and has a clear idea of goals and the principals he feels will work to achieve it.

I give him full credit for being plain speaking and no-nonsense. It is truly refreshing. This guy is no softie bureaucrat using media spin and weasel words. He calls'em like he sees 'em.

I highly recommend that anyone with an interest (either pro or con VSE) read this transcript. You may not agree with the guy, but you will come out understanding the man and his ideas very clearly.

Here is a link to his speech


http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=22033

This fellow has managed to get a lot of that great stuff up on line, including what looks like all of Bonestell's work in fairly hi res.

Just make sure that you have a few hours first. Lotsa great stuff:

http://www.fabiofeminofantascience.org/

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