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Opposing Pinnacles of Human Achievement — Parallax Forums

Opposing Pinnacles of Human Achievement

ercoerco Posts: 20,261
edited 2011-06-01 05:31 in General Discussion
Something for everyone!

For archaeology buffs, a stone age temple 6000 years older than Stonehenge:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/gobekli-tepe.html

http://www.google.com/search?q=gobekli+tepe,+turkey&hl=en&prmd=ivnsm&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=qUnkTY-KOIG8sAOkzKQW&ved=0CC4QsAQ&biw=1246&bih=749


And for tech buffs, the ISS is FINISHED!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1391818/The-pinnacle-human-achievement-Final-spacewalkers-Nasas-30-year-shuttle-mission-complete-construction-International-Space-Station.html

And since "ancient aliens" are mentioned in the ancient temple article, perhaps these seemingly different items are linked by a wrinkle in the time/space continuum?

Comments

  • HollyMinkowskiHollyMinkowski Posts: 1,398
    edited 2011-05-31 09:20
    erco wrote: »
    And since "ancient aliens" are mentioned in the ancient temple article, perhaps these seemingly different items are linked by a wrinkle in the time/space continuum?

    A synchronicity centuries in the making....
  • Dave HeinDave Hein Posts: 6,347
    edited 2011-05-31 09:28
    30 years to build the ISS. I wonder if anybody's been able to figure out what to do with it now that it is complete. Maybe a hotel chain will buy it.
  • HollyMinkowskiHollyMinkowski Posts: 1,398
    edited 2011-05-31 10:15
    Dave
    I wonder if they could strap some rockets on it and
    launch it toward Mars and get it into orbit there?
    It could be a floating way station for Mars explorers maybe?
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,261
    edited 2011-05-31 10:27
    I assume they will continue to do marvelous things in earth orbit for many moons.

    But it sure would be nice if the retiring Shuttle's replacement was more than good intentions, so we could get up there on our own!
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    edited 2011-06-01 00:33
    erco wrote: »
    I assume they will continue to do marvelous things in earth orbit for many moons.

    You mean like solar collectors to produce clean energy, reduce incoming solar energy, and reduce global warming? Makes too much sense for it to happen.
  • Dave HeinDave Hein Posts: 6,347
    edited 2011-06-01 05:31
    erco wrote: »
    I assume they will continue to do marvelous things in earth orbit for many moons.

    But it sure would be nice if the retiring Shuttle's replacement was more than good intentions, so we could get up there on our own!
    I have always been an enthuasist of space exploration. I was amazed by the Space Shuttle and the ISS when it first started 30 years ago. However, over the years I learned more about these projects and discovered how impractical they are. The Space Shuttle is a single-stage-to-orbit vehicle that weighs hundreds of tons, but can only put 14 tons into orbit. And then at the end of a mission it has to bring the hundreds of tons vehicle back from orbit to earth. Even a non-technical person must realize that that doesn't make any sense. It is much more economical to use a multistage rocket.

    The ISS is truly a fantastic accomplishment, but it was also a huge waste of money. Almost all of the experiments done on the ISS could have been done with much cheaper stations similar to Skylab. Intead of spending billions of dollars on the Space Shuttle and the ISS we could have continued to evolve the Apollo technology and returned back to the moon by now. We also would have been much further along on a manned mission to Mars.
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