Won? Gee, I dunno if it's over yet. I figured that much of the motivation fo the Race part of the Space Race was the animosities of the Cold War, and the struggle for territorial dominion.
Given Putin's stance now and China etc., I hear that the ramifications of the space race might be more relevant than ever. I'm still curious as to how it will develop.
I don't know. Probably about the same. Who believes that we really went to the moon? Did we land on the darkside or something? Why cant we see the rover and stuff from here, I know we have telescopes that are high powered enough. And now that we are planning a trip to mars, they say first we need to go to the moon, to feel things out, as if they have never been there before.
1) I suspect it would be extremely difficult to spot any evidence of the various space expeditions, even if one had a telescope that was powerful enough. This is because the light from the moon is merely light reflected from the sun, and this applies to any objects that were on it. Things like the rover would most likely be indistinguishable from the various other detritus that litters the surface of the moon. Furthermore, any apparatus that is powerful enough to visualise something a few hundred thousand kilometers away is going to have an extremely narrow aspect, making even glancing at it a pretty chancey process.
2) The trip to the moon to "feel things out" is most likely not to discover what the moon is like, but to simulate the conditions of going on a several-month-long space trip, as it takes much longer to get to Mars than it does to get to the moon. It would be dangerous to even consider going to Mars if we didn't know that it was possible to make a safe space landing on another planetary body, and move around on it. Therefore I think this suggestion actually supports the claim that we've not only already landed on the moon, but also had what we consider fairly extensive experience with performing operations on the moon.
haha, I just have a hard time believing anything anyone simply tells me. hmm, interesting. Ya that makes sense. Did you read about how they will need to stay on mars for about 17 months for the departure window to open? Its crazy stuff. I imagine the ship that carries them there, would produce a magnetic field to protect them from the solar radiation or something.Complicated stuff. It would be awesome to go to the moon someday.
Well, if you can find it in yourself to believe we actually did land on the moon, maybe you can believe that space tourism has already started, albeit at a very high price, but just might, later on, become more affordable :P
Right now we don't have the propulsion technology nor efficiency to make our way to other planets without the aid of the gravitational pull of other planets. Staying on Mars for 17 months...in poky quarters...with several people you could grow to love, or really hate...or both. At the same time.
It's been a long time since any country has pursued space travel, as much as space exploration. We've spent billions on data collecting modules, sent all over the solar system, to further our knowledge of the other planets.
Personally, I'd rather expand our knowledge of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn (Europa, for instance) and get more quantifiable info from the geology of Mars, than fund a dangerous expedition for humans at this point. I just don't think the tech we have now is reliable enough.
Ya I know they do tours of "space". They fly at an extremely high altitude, parabolically. I have flow in pressurized planes, and we have submarines so I know its possible, but its a different thing to go outside in a vacuum with a space suit made of softer, movable materials.
@godofsalt: The flag looks like that because NASA put wires into the flag to keep it upright. A flag that looks like it's waving looks cool. A flag that just sits there is boring. That's why the wires are there.
@Flipski: yes, we really went to the moon. If you don't believe me, go ask Buzz Aldrin. (Not actually recommended. He punched out the last guy that called him a fake.)
The Soviets easily won the Race to Space. The Americans won the race to the moon, but the Soviets didn't really care about that, since there's no real reason to head to the moon other than scientific endeavors. At least for another few decades.
The real race should be which nation can start a sustainable, independent colony on another world, whether a moon, or Mars. Of course, some of us would be plenty happy if it was a multinational endeavor also.
@Ninjacube: What makes you think the moon was the final goal? The Soviets didn't give a hoot about the moon, as I stated earlier. They were still first to get a satellite, which has much more economic and surveillance implications than the moon. They were first to put animals, and first to put humans into space, which has much more application to science, medical research in particular.
What did the US get for going to the moon. Some moon rocks. woooo.
I'm American too, but just because I like my country doesn't mean I think we have to revise history for everything we do.
I don't think Russia's space program is "almost gone". In fact, after the Columbia disintegrated, the US was using Russian rockets to get into space. for YEARS.
