Why dont we "have the technology"?

Question

I was reading some of the 'answers' to my parody, and I came across the common theme that people don't believe we have the technology to live on other planets.

I guess you're gonna say the moonlanding was filmed in holywood too? Although the moon is 'techncially' not a planet... people did 'live' on it for a short period of time.

It's not that I didn't expect stupid replies... it was a rather stupid parody insulting alot of people, but these people seriously sounded like they believed we don't have the technology to build an enclosed city on another planet... or even do simple terraforming.

Well, we might not be smart enough to terraform seeing how brilliant a job we did with Mother Earth but its not improbable.

Of course living on venus is strictly absurd. If the atmosphere doesn't kill you, it'll disolve whatever you put in it.

Answer 1

We are in fact doing a bang up job of terraforming the Earth.
Our limitations are not technological but"ethical" whatever that means. We could transform the entire landscape so that it was more effective at producing the products that we value. We would need to find the most productive trees, shrubs and whatever that could replace the current inhabitants of ecosystems. The ecosystems would still work though they may need constant tweaking much as natural ecosystems that evolved with man do now.
We could make the oceans more productive by making Iron and Nitrogen more available. They would also need more CO2 for the algae. (Not sure how we do that). The carrying capacity of such a reformed Earth would be enormous. Just a choice of looking after people and protecting our rather redundant biodiversity. Maybe we should start somewhere else. Bugger the people.

Answer 2

One of the biggest obstacles is overcoming the immense logistical problems.

No other planet has a breathable atmosphere which means we either need to create a breathable atmosphere (an almost impossible task given the extreme temperature variations on all other planets and the current atmospheric compositions) or we need to enclose a space - within a dome for example - in which people will live. The psychological effects of being confined in an enclosed space would lead to 'cabin fever' for many people.

Then there's the cost. If such a venture were to be undertaken huge quantities of materials would need to be transporterd from Earth to the planet in question. We could develop new propulsion systems to launch payloads into space and the use of electromagnetism is a strong contender.

Any structure that is built would have to withstand the extreme weather conditions common on other planets. We think we sometimes have bad weather on this planet but the storms that rage elsewhere in the solar system make Katrina look like a gentle breeze. Whatever we constructed would have to be immensely strong and this would require extensive new engineering technologies.

Picking some figures out of midair... A dome capable of housing 10,000 people would need perhaps 1 million tons of materials. at 50 tons per payload this would require 20,000 flights into space, if each flight cost just $10 million then the cost would be $200 billion, the equivalent of $20 million per person just to get the materials into place.

Answer 3

I don't think it's a matter of technological inadequacy, but one of prohibitive cost.

But it seems that I heard in the news that NASA was interested in establishing a moonbase, but I don't remember whether the target date was 2025 or another year.

And for what it's worth, there was an episode of Earth: Final Conflict in which Da'an asked Boone why humans were still interested in leaving Earth to see what they could learn in space when the Taelons could tell them just about anything they wanted to know, and Boone replied along the lines of how mankind is at their best when they're continuing to try to reach out and expand their horizons. Of course, for the exact dialogue, try to watch the episode (probably from the first season) since I may not have done it justice.

Answer 4

When I was in school we were told that by the year 2000 we would all be living in these "Jetson" style houses that do everything from cleaning themselves to preparing your favorite 7 course meal all with a push of a button. They also said we would be driving flying cars and that there would be affordable vacation spots on every planet in our solar system.
Back then we believed what we were told in school.
Now that I am older I realize that most things taught in public school other than the basic 3R's are mostly lies. Take Darwin for instance he was proven to be a phony by faking his research and his "miraculous" find of the "missing link skeleton". That doesn't stop every public school from teaching his ridiculous story of evolution does it?
I didn't read your parody but I do think that while in theory we have the capability, in reality we are not quite there yet.
P.S. There is also an old movie (sorry I don't remember the name)That shows the moon landing and a few other remarkable things as just hoaxes spoon fed to all us believing sheep! cool movie that makes you think.
This is not important, just my opinion.
Thanks for letting me share!!!

Answer 5

It's not that I don't think we have the technology to populate an other planet , it's the technology to get there. Taking six months to get to Mars is ridiculous. We need to get that down to days or even hours before tempting such a project. The TR-3B flying triangle is heading in the right direction but as with the stealth bomber it will be a few years yet before we see that.

Answer 6

put down the comics and get a grip, junior.