Will the next wave of discoveries be in space...when will that happen?
2006-09-07 06:23:34 · 14 answers · asked by rekha c 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Not on the surface of this planet. But it's a big universe. There's lots to discover if we can find a practical way to get there.
2006-09-07 06:25:37 · answer #1 · answered by r_moulton76 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In their day it took a couple months to get to the new lands. Today we have vehicles which, in a couple of months, can reach a good deal beyond the Moon, but not quite reach Mars.
So I guess if you used the travel time as a base, the next big discoveries would have to be on another planet, and since Venus is a no go as its surface is so hostile, I guess it will have to be Mars.
Big difference though, sailors could use freely available energy so did not need to carry any fuel, which made for much better economics. So until we have spaceships powered by solar sails (there are serious projects being studied) we'll have a big disadvantage here.
Now you ask, when will all this take place? Using the existing technology, i.e. huge rockets that need a lot of fuel, probably not before a few decades. And then it'll be sustainable only if we manage to produce energy and fuel on Mars (which is part of some exploration projects).
2006-09-07 06:38:34 · answer #2 · answered by AntoineBachmann 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Under the sea is a largely undiscovered place. Space too is the uncharted frontier.
We won't make space exploration a true priority until we have ruined living here on earth. OR until some scientist discovers some mineral or power source on some planet.
We earthlings tend to be a greedy lot
2006-09-07 06:30:00 · answer #3 · answered by words_smith_4u 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi there...
Good question - exploration and trade, historically, are closely linked. And history also tells us that exploration is not sustainable without trade
The age of sustained, international exploration of deep space has already begun - India, China & Japan are sending a new generation of probes to the Moon... and it's interesting just how many of the experiments they are carrying are designed to detect surface minerals. (1.)
Maybe China, India and Japan are interested in outer space resources?
But implicit in your question is: when will we send people into outer space to explore "new lands"?
I don't recall his handle, but another Answerer was on the right track when he commented that we'll not get off this rock until we find resources worth the trouble. (Though we already know that such resources are out there.)
He's also close to the money when he implies that we'll probably not do that until we get ourselves into a corner by over-depending on Earth resources.
I think that we're not going to see a real epochal age of space exploration until folks can afford to leave Earth and make homes in space. They will be part of humanity's space industries, sending back to Earth thousands of gigawatts of electricity from solar power, and trillions of dollars worth of metals and volatiles.
No joke; we know that these resources are out there in the solar system. (2.)
Our "space program" in the USA so far has been a way to leverage our technology so as to sell a message about American technological pre-eminance. The manned space program is not, and never has been, geared to be worthwhile on it's own merits, which is why defining it's benefit to the U.S. has been so frustrating.
2006-09-07 08:25:00 · answer #4 · answered by wm_omnibus 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's a good question. The ocean floor has plenty of stuff to explore. And, no one has set foot on Mars. The moon is 99.999999 percent unexplored. Other than that, everything else is either too hostile (environmentally speaking), or just too darn far away.
We won't really be able to explore the outer solar system until Prometheus is available.
2006-09-07 08:24:46 · answer #5 · answered by Otis F 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In this statelite world every inch of dry land discovered/known and in space everyday new stars are being discovered.
2006-09-10 00:25:54 · answer #6 · answered by Rohit 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
On earth no!!
But there are still sooooooooooooo many undiscovered place in the space!
2006-09-07 06:26:07 · answer #7 · answered by ATHeisT 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
everything is discovered on earth . now we have to try in other planets or even other galaxies . its time to think bigger and better.its time to excel.its time to find new secrets . its time for what you wanna do.
2006-09-11 00:23:25 · answer #8 · answered by tourist 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
these sites explain nasa's vision for future space exploration.
2006-09-07 06:37:01 · answer #9 · answered by outbaksean 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How about deep ocean trenches...have they all been completely mapped and explored?
2006-09-07 06:30:11 · answer #10 · answered by young108west 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋