Monday, February 27, 2006
Current Affairs (a departure from the usual)
Tonight I am going to take the liberty and actually post a personal thought on a random topic. Early on, I decided that the purpose of my blog was to share passages from Scripture and give small commentaries based on what I, Wesley, thought. However, tonight will be different. Why? For pride more than anything!
Today at lunch I over heard a family member giving his or her thoughts about a particular topic. However, I have had this particular thought for some time, and now I wish to publish it before this other party can take credit.
The topic: a trip to Mars. Many people have been perplexed by President Bush’s occasional push to spend government funds for space travel. Ideas like a space station on the Moon and a long flight to Mars by humans seem financially unbeneficial. But I disagree. Since the beginning of human history, technology has primarily advanced through war. However, leaps in technological discoveries due to war have slowed down. This plateau might be due to a change in world dynamics. Economics and computers are now the ‘war’ weapons. And I feel these new weapons can only advance mankind so far—on their own that is! But how would a renewed interest in space travel advance technology in a noticeable way? Are there not too many challenges? Yes, but it is these challenges that would bring new and large discoveries.
Problem 1: Being able to sustain life in space for longer periods of time. Current technologies, to the best of my knowledge, could not sustain life at a space station as far as the Moon for any substantial amount of time, let alone a long trip to Mars. The discoveries required to sustain life might help sustain life longer here on Earth. The biological sciences which have stayed in the shadows in the last few decades could reach their golden years. Physical sciences like physics and chemistry reached their peak in the early 1900s. The 2000s will be the stage for biological sciences.
Problem 2: Large amounts of radiation exposure. This problem is actually a subset of the first. The large amounts of radiation in space prevent long stays in space. Currently, radiological engineering is sketchy. The models and equations do their job but are very crude. A better mating of biology and radiation physics would be required.
Problem 3: Nuclear power. No oil, no natural gas, and no renewable fuels (to the best of our knowledge) exist on the Moon. Nuclear power technologies will be needed. The same holds for the propulsion of the shuttle to Mars. As energy experts look into the power requirements in the future here on Earth, they see a large shortage around 2012 with our current policies. I believe nuclear power (the fission kind) is going to be revitalized. How awesome would it be for the power companies and the space organizations to work together.
I have only scratched the top of this issue. However, I was quick to publish to get bragging rights. I do not doubt there are many other problems that would lead to large leaps in technological advancements. How exciting!
NOTE: I return to the “normal scheduled” posts tomorrow.
Today at lunch I over heard a family member giving his or her thoughts about a particular topic. However, I have had this particular thought for some time, and now I wish to publish it before this other party can take credit.
The topic: a trip to Mars. Many people have been perplexed by President Bush’s occasional push to spend government funds for space travel. Ideas like a space station on the Moon and a long flight to Mars by humans seem financially unbeneficial. But I disagree. Since the beginning of human history, technology has primarily advanced through war. However, leaps in technological discoveries due to war have slowed down. This plateau might be due to a change in world dynamics. Economics and computers are now the ‘war’ weapons. And I feel these new weapons can only advance mankind so far—on their own that is! But how would a renewed interest in space travel advance technology in a noticeable way? Are there not too many challenges? Yes, but it is these challenges that would bring new and large discoveries.
Problem 1: Being able to sustain life in space for longer periods of time. Current technologies, to the best of my knowledge, could not sustain life at a space station as far as the Moon for any substantial amount of time, let alone a long trip to Mars. The discoveries required to sustain life might help sustain life longer here on Earth. The biological sciences which have stayed in the shadows in the last few decades could reach their golden years. Physical sciences like physics and chemistry reached their peak in the early 1900s. The 2000s will be the stage for biological sciences.
Problem 2: Large amounts of radiation exposure. This problem is actually a subset of the first. The large amounts of radiation in space prevent long stays in space. Currently, radiological engineering is sketchy. The models and equations do their job but are very crude. A better mating of biology and radiation physics would be required.
Problem 3: Nuclear power. No oil, no natural gas, and no renewable fuels (to the best of our knowledge) exist on the Moon. Nuclear power technologies will be needed. The same holds for the propulsion of the shuttle to Mars. As energy experts look into the power requirements in the future here on Earth, they see a large shortage around 2012 with our current policies. I believe nuclear power (the fission kind) is going to be revitalized. How awesome would it be for the power companies and the space organizations to work together.
I have only scratched the top of this issue. However, I was quick to publish to get bragging rights. I do not doubt there are many other problems that would lead to large leaps in technological advancements. How exciting!
NOTE: I return to the “normal scheduled” posts tomorrow.
# posted by Wesley Son of Cornelius @ 12:06 AM 
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