To boldly go ...
 

... where no gerbil has gone before!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6996671.stm

:disturbd:

Re: To boldly go ...
 

I don't recall reading that they did this to Yuri Gagarin ...

Re: To boldly go ...
 

I think you'll find they did.

It's a little known fact that at launch time he was still called Airy Arguing... :erm:

Re: To boldly go ...
 

Be a bit of a shame if first contact is between gerbil and alien - and the latter decides the former is Earth's intelligent life. And heads for home.

Re: To boldly go ...
 

Oh I dunno. If it's the Richard Gere gerbil then I'm sure there'll be plenty of tales to tell.

Re: To boldly go ...
 

Well considering they've been observing Earth's TV Broadcasts for years it would be easy to beleive ;)

Re: To boldly go ...
 

Sometimes I reach the same decision...

Re: To boldly go ...
 

Yeah - know that feeling :D

Re: To boldly go ...
 

And to think of the fuss people made over gerbils wearing make-up and having silky smooth hair.

Re: To boldly go ...
 

:erm:

You being having the special mushroom soup again?

Re: To boldly go ...
 

Nah.. People go made over cosmetic testing on animals, but launching them into space is OK :)

Re: To boldly go ...
 

Space gerbils!!! ;)

Re: To boldly go ...
 

Gerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrbillllllllllllllll lllllls in space :D

Muppet fans will understand...

Re: To boldly go ...
 

I nearly called the thread title that, but I thought no-one else would get it. :D

Re: To boldly go ...
 

Interesting that the Russians are looking towards the red planet. It makes one think that the USA and Europe have spent collossal sums of money in order to study Mars, send rovers etc and the Russians (who's actual contributions towards the study Mars have been minimal) could (very well) be the first to set foot on same. :erm:

After all, they've pioneered long space missions (Mir space station) for many years so are not strangers to long time weightlessness etc. Ironically, if they were to send a mission towards Mars (in the very near future) there's absolutely nothing that anyone could do about it. In fact the only issue for them (really) would be the cost and (if truth be known) I don't reckon that would be a show stopper as (it seems from past experience) kudos versus their welfare system appears to be more of a priority. :erm:

It would almost be a home from home - a bit like a giant Siberia but without the atmosphere. :rolleyes:

Si thee

Re: To boldly go ...
 

The reason Russia never got to the moon was their rocket technology led them up a cul-de-sac. Werner 'V2' Von Braunn was successfully pioneering rockets that had a few, massive engines for NASA, while his rivals in the Soviet Union were busily trying to work out how to make dozens of much smaller engines work together to achieve the same aim. They were also experimenting with highly toxic, unstable chemicals for fuel. It got them nowhere.

I haven't seen or read anything to suggest that they have since developed the magnitude of controlled thrust required to make a lunar transit - something they are going to have to do, in order to prove the technology, before going anywhere near Mars. Humankind has been stuck in low Earth orbit for more than 30 years now, the Americans by choice but the Russians because they never got any further.

If America, which has the technology to do this, has felt the need to go back to the drawing board and publish a very long-term timetable, I'm not sure how the Russians plan to do it any faster. Still, I wish them every success - another space race is the only thing that is going to speed this up and make it happen any time soon.

Re: To boldly go ...
 

Not if you count probes and rovers.

Just think, human space exploration might be undertaken by proxy - by a specially selected team of robots and rodents.

Re: To boldly go ...
 

Sure, robots are very clever - gerbils are, too - but every piece of information ever sent back by a rover on the surface of Mars could have been determined by a small team of humans in a mobile laboratory within a matter of days.

Given the choice, we should always strive to go ourselves rather than by proxy. If we get too used to the idea that we can allow robots to do all our exploring for us, not only will we slow down our exploration of the universe, we will in all likelihood become even more sedentary and risk-averse than we already are.

A new spirit of adventure is what we need - that and a few billion dollars. :erm: :D

Re: To boldly go ...
 

Presumably that means US dollars. I don't think any other currency was used to get man to the moon.

Along those lines, it looks as though the UK is going to get more involved, as science minister Malcolm Wicks has said it is time to invest in space missions.

Re: To boldly go ...
 

Just thinking in terms of money generally, using the world reserve currency ...

In the future it could be Roubles or Yen that get boots onto the lunar surface.

Re: To boldly go ...
 

Who knows - 20 years ago, you couldn't give roubles away.