The Martian (1 Viewer)

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nmrocks

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Saw this movie and I highly recommend it, not a Matt Damon fan but he did a great job on this one.
And so that brings me to a real sore spot for me....
Why the hell aren't we actively pursuing manned space exploration?
I think it's one of the biggest failures of the current administration to for all intents and purposes shutting down NASA.
Ray
 
Count me in! Apart from the obvious exploratory and scientific benefits, manned space exploration is by far the greatest technological booster for mankind, and particularly for the US. One con`t even imagine how many technologies were developed by both the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs that we use on a daily basis today, that might have been inexistent if it were not for NASA, JPL and MIT under those programs!

And yes, the movie The Martian is really worth seeing, very, very good!
 
I can't deny that the space program has had many spin-off benefits to other technology but I do wonder whether there's anything more to be gained by it? Sure Mars is do-able but the rest - simply too far away for travel to be feasible. I think it's one of those things that's an interesting idea but just not practical and the costs are astronomical!!
 
nmrocks said:
Saw this movie and I highly recommend it, not a Matt Damon fan but he did a great job on this one.
And so that brings me to a real sore spot for me....
Why the hell aren't we actively pursuing manned space exploration?
I think it's one of the biggest failures of the current administration to for all intents and purposes shutting down NASA.
Ray
Click to expand...

Real soon there will be no one left alive who has walked on the moon. Pretty incredible when you think that became almost routine in the 70s. NASA has been mostly taken over by private contractors and they are talking about suicide missions to Mars. The place in Florida feels vacant when you visit. It's all about the glory days which are behind them. I'm still waiting for my flying car though. So maybe progress comes slow.
 
Cost aside, space exploration needs to continue. Earth, as the sole abode of the human race, is much too vulnerable to the rogue comet/meteor. We need a viable second home. Besides, it's only a matter of time before our sun goes supernova and we certainly need to be gone from the neighborhood when that occurs. Someone needs to invent Warp drive and get us out of here before it's too late.:wink2: -- Al
 
I'm with you Al, cost should not be a factor...what? should we spend the money giving out govt. cell phones instead??
We haven't even dreamed of what will be discovered and become part of daily life as a result of serious investment in space travel.
I think the private sector space flight will accelerate advances.
A while back I read a book called "Red Mars" along the same line as it was a one way trip, hundreds of people, they had launched many rockets with building equipment and supplies in advance with the eventual plan to Terra form the planet into a livable environment.
The mining of comets and asteroids could be an absolute windfall for a resource starved planet.
Ray
 
Actually there is a lot of activity in NASA for a further exploration of our solar system and beyond. NASA's goal is to have "BOOTS ON MARS" in the 2030's, or in 15 - 20 years which is actually rather quickly in NASA time. That is one of the reasons we are seeing "long" duration's at the ISS.

Some astronauts have been up there close to a year, I believe. NASA needs to understand what happens to the body in long periods of weightlessness.

Space exploration is a tiny-step by tiny-step process and there is a lot to learn.

I also agree that the movie ... The Martian ... is a very entertaining movie. It reminded me a bit of "Red Planet" (with Val Kilmer) and a bit of "Mission to Mars" (with Gary Sinise and Tim Robbins).

There is an OLD movie that I would watch every time it came on; Robinson Crusoe on Mars" Kinda, a silly movie but I love it for some reason.

Anyway GO SEE Matt on Mars!!

--- LaRRY
 
Larry Allen said:
Actually there is a lot of activity in NASA for a further exploration of our solar system and beyond. NASA's goal is to have "BOOTS ON MARS" in the 2030's, or in 15 - 20 years which is actually rather quickly in NASA time. That is one of the reasons we are seeing "long" duration's at the ISS.

Some astronauts have been up there close to a year, I believe. NASA needs to understand what happens to the body in long periods of weightlessness.

Space exploration is a tiny-step by tiny-step process and there is a lot to learn.

I also agree that the movie ... The Martian ... is a very entertaining movie. It reminded me a bit of "Red Planet" (with Val Kilmer) and a bit of "Mission to Mars" (with Gary Sinise and Tim Robbins).

There is an OLD movie that I would watch every time it came on; Robinson Crusoe on Mars" Kinda, a silly movie but I love it for some reason.

Anyway GO SEE Matt on Mars!!

--- LaRRY
Click to expand...
Liked all 3 of those shows. Who doesn't like space monkeys?^&grin -- Al
 
Love Robinson Crusoe on Mars. I think it has to do with seeing it as kids (adventure). Kind of like, Journey to the Center of Earth.
 
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and I couldn't agree more about mankind investing more in space travel. We as humans are trashing and over populating this world so we will need to find a way to travel vast distances so we can find a new world to live on. We also need resources from planets and an economical way to return those resources back to earth.

Tom
 
Good flick, pity about all the junk left on Mars, hopefully someone will come along one day and clean it up, before it looks like Earth^&grin, Robin.
 
villagehorse said:
Good flick, pity about all the junk left on Mars, hopefully someone will come along one day and clean it up, before it looks like Earth^&grin, Robin.
Click to expand...

A bit of useless junk and some wreckage that might get a good Ebay price but also a pretty handy 2nd hand 4WD vehicle.

I see Jessica Chastain complaining about getting less than Matt Damon. Damon apparently got $25m. Seems initial reports indicated she got $7m and she claims she got less than a quarter of that. Apart from Damon the rest of the cast is a good ensemble cast and I would guess 2 or 3 others also got similar or close to her. Sorry but when a studio budgets $100m they are not counting on Chastain's name to put the bums on cinema seats.


Matt Damon as Mark Watney (botanist, engineer)
Jessica Chastain as Melissa Lewis, Ares III Mission Commander (geologist)
Kristen Wiig as Annie Montrose, NASA spokesperson (Director, Media Relations)
Jeff Daniels as Theodore "Teddy" Sanders, Director of NASA
Michael Peña as Major Rick Martinez, astronaut (pilot)
Kate Mara as Beth Johanssen, astronaut (system operator, reactor technician)
Sean Bean as Mitch Henderson, Hermes flight director
Sebastian Stan as Dr. Chris Beck, astronaut (flight surgeon, EVA specialist)
Aksel Hennie as Dr. Alex Vogel, astronaut (navigator, chemist)
Chiwetel Ejiofor as Vincent Kapoor, NASA's Mars mission director
 
I feel so bad for her,only 7 million.She may be eligible for food stamps.:rolleyes2:
Mark
 
nmrocks said:
...Why the hell aren't we actively pursuing manned space exploration?
I think it's one of the biggest failures of the current administration to for all intents and purposes shutting down NASA.
Ray
Click to expand...

It has nothing to do with any administration (and believe me, I am no fan of the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, or his administration). It's easier and cheaper, more practical, to send robots at this point. To send a human, you have to send materials to keep him alive, which increases the cost, in dollars and in resources. We're not quite at the point yet. I remember Sagan making this point in his "Cosmos" series, too.

And who says the State has to do it, anyway? It can just as easily be private enterprises that conduct the research and develop the technology, that will make it practical to colonize space. Right now, there are more pressing worries here on Earth,for our government to address.

But that aside, it does look like a cool movie.

Prost!
Brad
 
theBaron said:
It has nothing to do with any administration (and believe me, I am no fan of the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, or his administration). It's easier and cheaper, more practical, to send robots at this point. To send a human, you have to send materials to keep him alive, which increases the cost, in dollars and in resources. We're not quite at the point yet. I remember Sagan making this point in his "Cosmos" series, too.

And who says the State has to do it, anyway? It can just as easily be private enterprises that conduct the research and develop the technology, that will make it practical to colonize space. Right now, there are more pressing worries here on Earth,for our government to address.

But that aside, it does look like a cool movie.

Prost!
Brad
Click to expand...

Very true Brad, the shuttle fleets was beyond it's life expectancy and I think we were reaching the point no milestones left in earth orbit. Putting the budget a robotic trejectory should have been done , not a shut down. We are just years from Human/Machine intigration, it's already begun, we may find many answers there.
As far as commercial exploration... you want to kick it into High gear?? allow these companies to OWN what they find on planets, comets and asteroids, you won't be able to slow them down!!
Ray

P.S. the movie has really quite a few laughs
 
I saw this movie also and thought it was excellent. I am a big fan of Ridley Scott films, BlackHawk Down, Prometheus and others. (Did not like his Exodus though). But in The Martian he hit a home run.
I am not a Matt Damon fan either. He did an acceptable job, but the "plot", scenery and science carried the film regardless.


I also think we need to explore Mars and other space bodies.

Walt
 
Saw it last week with my son and we really enjoyed it. The special effects are spectacular, great story and acting from Matt Damon. Now I also know that you can grow potatoes anywhere :wink2:
 
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