Mars Rover Landing Stream

[Gauntleted Fist]

But what you are describing isn't fascist. In fact it's remarkably like one of the argument fascist used against laissez-faire capatalist liberal democracies.

Even better, then I'm covering all bases.

Oh, I see. Carry on, then.

[Yandere Schoolgirls]

Another great day for NASA, and a bad day for the taxpayer. How long will we let NASA waste our precious tax dollars that could be spent elsewhere in the economy? Abolishing NASA would lower taxes allowing us to purchase things that we actually need. Landing on Mars presents no more of a scientific significance than landing in the desert, albeit at least in the desert there are actual lifeforms and occurrences we could learn about, not just red rocks and sand. NASA is a waste of money, and should be abolished immediately.

You sir are not a very bright person indeed.. Was science to hard a subject in the 7th grade?
Spent elsewhere in the economy..
Like GM / Bank bailouts?
Tossing trillions of dollars of debt laden stimulus funding into locations where it was not needed?
Or maybe you would like to divert more funding into helping the work capable welfare leeches buy more drugs and booze?

Funding into Education / Science R&D / Military / Health (NASA and affiliates fall into all of those catagories) has always proven to provide larger return for every $ spent.
And you would place it where it either hampers economic growth or returns a much lower % return to the people and Gov?
Please, find a cliff and think for once.

Now im going to bed so I can get up and have an early start at work, make some hours, pay my taxes to help society, and continue living my awesome life.

If those services actually provided a larger return for every dollar spent then they wouldn't have been running deficits in the first place. Why would the government slash nasa spending if it were instead running a profit? That would make no sense.

If corporations head space exploration, and end up administrating the population of some moon, or even a space station, that's rather fascist, as per the aforesaid definition.
Remember, If corporations head the government - that's fascist. If corporations are the government, that's definitely fascist.
If, for example, the people of a moon or a space station, or perhaps even a ship, have to go to a corporation rather than a government, that's fascist. Try again. I think you're getting closer.

Okay try this. If, to become an astronaut, you have to go to a corporation rather than a government, that's fascist.

Sigh, so basically by your own argument assumes all corporations become fascist entities-or that private space corporations will. Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds or are you just saving face? That's like calling Microsoft fascist, or A&T fascist. In retrospect it doesn't matter, because the real problem aren't the corporations it's the government.

[NMaa949]

Sigh, so basically by your own argument assumes all corporations become fascist entities-or that private space corporations will. Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds or are you just saving face? That's like calling Microsoft fascist, or A&T fascist. In retrospect it doesn't matter, because the real problem aren't the corporations it's the government.

Not only are corporations dictatorships, they are run by business interests. They are, in short, fascist.

[Yandere Schoolgirls]

Sigh, so basically by your own argument assumes all corporations become fascist entities-or that private space corporations will. Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds or are you just saving face? That's like calling Microsoft fascist, or A&T fascist. In retrospect it doesn't matter, because the real problem aren't the corporations it's the government.

Not only are corporations dictatorships, they are run by business interests. They are, in short, fascist.

Fascism (play /ˈfæʃɪzəm/) is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology.[1][2] Fascists seek elevation of their nation based on commitment to an organic national community where its individuals are united together as one people in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry and culture through a totalitarian state that seeks the mass mobilization of a nation through discipline, indoctrination, physical training, and eugenics.[3][4] Fascism seeks to eradicate perceived foreign influences that are deemed to be causing degeneration of the nation or of not fitting into the national culture.

No where in this definition does it describe whatever twisted meaning that have in your head of what fascism is. Not even the horrifyingly simplified online merriem webster dictionary agrees with your usage of the word.
1
often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition

[NMaa949]

I was referring to Mussolini's Italian Corporate Fascism, not it's varied ideological proponents of whom any intellectual can be a fan. Fascism can be surely dandy without so many corporate interests and chauvinism, it might even have red in it's flag. Many or most Fascists were originally Socialists, after all, and might assuredly be agreeable if not for their absurd nationalism and falling over in face of the corporate interests they wish to subsume. Poor Mussolini...

[Divair]

This is brilliant. Hopefully the media shock-wave from this will produce enough pressure to convince the government to increase NASA's funding. Doubt it'll happen, but a man can dream.

[Bralia]

^ Man's dream has already gotten us to Mars.

[Divair]

^ Man's dream has already gotten us to Mars.

Only with a few rovers, unfortunately.

[Miss Defied]

I've only read the first two pages, but I'm seeing a lot of posters who seem to think this is the first landing on Mars, or the first rover on Mars.

True enough that Mars landings have an eerily bad record for successful deployment, but this isn't the first to succeed. That would be Viking 1 in 1975.

First "landing" was a Soviet rover mission Mars 2, which crashed in November 1971. Mars 3 in the same year did land but died seconds later. Those were the first attempted rovers (though they were designed to walk no further than 15 meters from the lander). The first successful rover was Sojourner in 1997.

Hrmph. Just so you kids don't think you're doing anything really new.

Goodness, I was reading through the thread trying to think of why, other than being able to live stream the landing, this is so historic?
I mean, I don't want to be a party pooper or anything, I think it's just great. It's just not all that historic.

[Ifreann]

That's one way to get away with killing the cat.

[Volnotova]

I love how some are trying to turn this thread into a debate about economics and politics.

That said, I looked forward to this a long time.

[Mavorpen]

Show me evidence that NASA is a major factor in the national debt. Money doesn't go nowhere. The money goes on buying things for their projects and hiring employees. Silicon Valley loves NASA for this reason.

It's well known that NASA is running up a deficit that continuously grows, look it up yourself. Also, it doesn't have to take up a major portion of debt, that doesn't matter. What matters is that it's an ultimately unsustainable venture, and space travel could be better handled be the private sector.
Yeah, and those things that they buy shoot up demand and increase consumer prices higher than they would have been had they been left alone making harder for poorer people to afford things.

How cute, you think you know about science.

[The House of Petain]

They're getting images!

Alien ruins? Water? Omg I'm so excited!

Autobots, actually.

[Farnhamia]

It's well known that NASA is running up a deficit that continuously grows, look it up yourself. Also, it doesn't have to take up a major portion of debt, that doesn't matter. What matters is that it's an ultimately unsustainable venture, and space travel could be better handled be the private sector.
Yeah, and those things that they buy shoot up demand and increase consumer prices higher than they would have been had they been left alone making harder for poorer people to afford things.

How cute, you think you know about science.

And economics.

[Karcha]

Deploying flares!

[Unita Teccon Olympia Enclave]

"You can't stop progress."

Hopefully man will land on Mars, it will be the happiest day of my life.

Just hope NASA will live onto the years, i really don't want to see it die out.

[Hittanryan]

OK, ignoring the partisan bullshit in the thread so far, what say we appreciate this engineering feat for what it is, hmm?

[Farnhamia]

Deploying flares!

I hope they pulled off onto the shoulder and turned on the flashers, too.

[Ifreann]

OK, ignoring the partisan bullshit in the thread so far, what say we appreciate this engineering feat for what it is, hmm?

youmustbenewhere.jpg

[Sentinel XV]

Next stop, Machine Cult of Mars!

The Adeptus Mechanicus shall control all. Nothing shall stop the supremacy of the Tech-priests.

[Nationstatelandsville]

It's always cool when this happens.

This one better last as long as the others. It wouldn't want to look lazy, now would it?

[The Lone Alliance]

This is a glorious advancement for humanity. I'm glad it worked out, considering we still have one of the other two rover's functioning that brings us back to two I think.

Good enough proof that the government IS useful for things and that somethings can't be done by the 'private sector only'

Everyone just ignore Yandere Schoolgirls, they seem pretty clueless, I mean they believe that austerity works.

[Nationstatelandsville]

This is a glorious advancement for humanity. I'm glad it worked out, considering we still have one of the other two rover's functioning that brings us back to two I think.

All brought to you by something called government.

So Libertarians? Where is your probe to mars?
Oh wait it's not profitable and therefore it doesn't matter.

Suck it "Private Sector does it better" crowd.

Oh, Jesus Christ, can we just be happy? We just shot a piece of metal a nearly unfathomable distance into space and it landed on a distant world to teach us about it. Isn't that fantastic enough without it having to prove a point?

[Occupied Deutschland]

This is a glorious advancement for humanity. I'm glad it worked out, considering we still have one of the other two rover's functioning that brings us back to two I think.

All brought to you by something called government.

So Libertarians? Where is your probe to mars?
Oh wait it's not profitable and therefore it doesn't matter.

Suck it "Private Sector does it better" crowd.

Everyone just ignore Yandere Schoolgirls, he\she just Jealous that nothing he\she can think of could beat what happened, hell he\she is actually stupid enough to believe that austerity works!

I'm glad it took a full ten pages for someone to politicize a great scientific endeavor.
...
That may just be a record for NSG.

[The Lone Alliance]

Oh, Jesus Christ, can we just be happy? We just shot a piece of metal a nearly unfathomable distance into space and it landed on a distant world to teach us about it. Isn't that fantastic enough without it having to prove a point?

Sorry, I'm happy but these comments saying "We should dissolve NASA" piss me off, and Occupied you obviously didn't read the entire thread.