pointlessjon
ID: TQAFUT85
Member 348
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santa cruz, US
Immortal since Dec 12, 2007
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    Where forward thinking terrestrials share ideas and information about the state of the species, their planet and the universe, living the lives of science fiction. Introduction
    Featuring Powers of Ten by Charles and Ray Eames, based on an idea by Kees Boeke.
    From pointlessjon's personal cargo

    2010
    To imagine: in a few years we'll have people regularly living and working on the moon. And, someday, hopefully not too far off, the possibility of humans living on more than one planet for the first time in this history... how far we've come for monkeys with hats.

    Wed, Dec 12, 2007  Permanent link
    Categories: rant, postulation, ramble
    6 comments
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    partymarty     Wed, Dec 12, 2007  Permanent link
    "Monkeys with hats." I like that lol.

    It is absolutely mind blowing to think how far we have come, and also how far we can go. We've merely "dipped our toes in the cosmic waters" as Carl Sagan once put it, and I for one consider myself incredibly fortunate to be living in these times.

    We have seen the first man-made probes land on another planet. We have watched our perception of Mars change from that of a distant red sphere, to a vast, dynamic landscape as real and as familiar as any found here on Earth. We have seen the expansion and evolution of our knowledge of the cosmos grow into to something boarding science fiction... and we have merely "dipped our toes in the cosmic waters"...

    In our lifetimes we will see the dawn of the first lunar outposts, increased robotic missions to Mars and, one day (and the thought gives me chills), we will see man walk the surface of Mars...

    Can we live in more exciting times?
    pointlessjon     Thu, Dec 13, 2007  Permanent link
    .. more exciting times? Perhaps. I kind of feel like these times are somewhat dull as far as exploration, and the unknown go. It seems like looking backward to, say, before the world was mapped, it must have been incredibly different to think, *pointing* "I have no idea what the fuck is over there."

    Well, then again, maybe that's not unlike now... instead of pointing to the horizon though, we're pointing to the sky.

    It just feels like there's this huge uncharted island we're looking at through our spyglass, but the water is hot lava and everything we've built so far has burned up, except for maybe a message in some crazy unburnable bottle. But, though interesting, that's no fun.

    Of course, instead of a messages in bottles we put things like cameras and other tools that send us back the information it records, which is great...

    I just imagine it is a very different feeling when I look at images of mars, versus standing on a cliff on mars, or looking through the window of some ship adrift in deep space, and looking at something through my own eyes...


    Just thinking out loud here.
    partymarty     Fri, Dec 14, 2007  Permanent link
    I think I get what you're saying. It seems like you feel a bit disconnected from the whole space frontier. I can understand that. When these new worlds are so far away and you have no way of experiencing them other than through the lens of some distant camera, yeah, I see where the separation is.

    But for me, I guess I'm kind of looking at this whole thing on a more human scale. What greater step is there for mankind then stepping on the soil of another world that, up until that very moment, had just been another speck of light in the night sky? Can we really boast a greater accomplishment (at least during our lifetimes) than that?

    I'm looking forward to that day with great anticipation. Sure I'll never get to traverse a Martian landscape or see the Sun rise on another planet, but I'll get to say that I lived during the era of humanity when we first stepped foot on another world, and I'll be privileged enough to have experienced that moment as it unfolds, even if it is through my (awesome) HD television and not first-hand. =)

    And just imagine how united the world will be (if only for a few seconds) when that first astronaut sets his foot down on red soil. That's going to be an incredibly powerful moment and I can't wait to see it happen.

    Now if only NASA would get more funding....
    pointlessjon     Thu, Jan 3, 2008  Permanent link
    I hear ya. don't get me wrong — I'll be right there with you.

    I wonder - can we donate to NASA? I've never even considered. Though, I doubt my $5 would really have an impact on launches that stretch into the millions (billions?) of dollars necessary. Perhaps I should jump into some of our other projects on here and donate some creativity...
    bpwnes     Thu, Jan 3, 2008  Permanent link
    I bet if everyone here chipped in a couple bucks, they could buy a couple hammers and a toilet seat. lol
    pointlessjon     Fri, Jan 11, 2008  Permanent link
    at first glance i thought that read 'hamsters'. the funny thing is, my brain actually made sense of it by assuming you meant hamsters for energy (hamster on the wheel in day of the tentacle, anybody?)...
     
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