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Thread: Wow. Just wow.

  1. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by frugal-one View Post
    we were not in the throws of a pandemic where masses of people were out of work and looking for help with basic necessities.
    This mission, like all space probes, was planned years ago and has been in the design, development, and building process ever since. It's rocket was launched on July 30, 2020, which means by the time the pandemic became a thing in March everything had already been done and the rocket was sitting there just waiting for the proper date for it to be launched. Wherefore then dost thou bemoan the coincidence of pandemic and launch as though they were somehow related?

  2. #22
    Senior Member Tradd's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by frugal-one View Post
    This was not the time to do this. We have so many out of work and food insecurities. Why do we even need to know if there was life there? Who cares?
    Projects like this are in the works for YEARS before they happen

  3. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by oldhat View Post
    Who cares about the shapes of birds' beaks in the Galapagos Islands? Charles Darwin did, and laid the foundations of modern biology. But just think of how many poor people in England the cost of that voyage could have fed!
    The Beagle was a Royal Navy ship sent on it's long voyage to find and survey foreign lands that Britain had laid claim to or might reasonable lay claim to and the sea routes from Britain to them. Darwin was basically a piece of luggage carried by the ship at the request of someone with enough power to get him onboard under the rubric of "naturalist". IOW Darwin's explorations basically cost the Crown nothing.

    And the Crown bloody well had more than enough money to feed all the poor people in England if it had wanted to, but that sort of thing "simply wasn't done" back then because it was firmly believed that feeding the poor just made them lazy and encouraged them to have more useless children like themself. Ref Malthus, Dickens, Scrooge, et al.

  4. #24
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    The Ingenuity - little Mars helicopter - had its first flight on Monday. Successful albeit a short flight, but still interesting.
    To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayer." Mahatma Gandhi
    Be nice whenever possible. It's always possible. HH Dalai Lama
    In a world where you can be anything - be kind. Unknown

  5. #25
    Senior Member razz's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by happystuff View Post
    The Ingenuity - little Mars helicopter - had its first flight on Monday. Successful albeit a short flight, but still interesting.
    All the preparation and research that went into this succeeded in a positive outcome. I wonder how the discoveries in developing this achievement will ripple into general use over the next few years
    As Cicero said, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”

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