Honour a Hero

first off, props for the Protomen reference. I love that band.

secondly, I don't really necessarily equate "heroism" with scientific achievement. While really cool, and really impressive, manned space flight was a product of the Cold War, and our desire to be better than the Soviets at 'Science!' We learn much, much more from these robots to Mars, who don't have food, oxygen, shelter or water requirements, and run on sunshine and nuclear fuel rods, than we ever would from sending some guys to Mars who were would have little no chance of ever retrieving. It doesn't sound like heroism to volunteer for a one way trip to Mars. that sounds like suicide.

 

I'll have to agree with Sheo on scientific studies being conducted better with unmanned flights, as the rover carries the equipment of your average lab (and then some, as it combines different branches of study, such as geometry and (finally) biology) without sacrificing any science stuff for things like life support. Obviously we need to (at some time, hopefully sooner than later) lift off from this rock, but currently our best bet at studying Solar system is with unmanned flights. Even more obviously it would be ultra-cool to be able to walk the surface of Mars, for example, but where's the scientific value of me (or anyone else for that matter) being able to say "I was there"?

No one is denying Neil Armstrong (or any other member of Apollo 11 crew) being a brave man. Ssame kind of bravery can be seen in eg. Wright brothers, or the first men to test drive submarines. New invention in their infancy are always risky to use, but someone has to use them, otherwise there'd be no progress.

(the last bit should probably go under Taboo topics)
Birth control is one of the things that actually should be mandated by some force other than just your average human beings urge to pass on his/her genes. You need a licence to breed animals for crying out loud. (OK, this does sound horrible, but seriously, there are people who would really be better off not being able to "fill the earth"...)

 

I think we need both manned and unmanned. The unmanned probe is awesome right now (I work in the nuclear industry so to see its powered by Plutonium decay is bad ass) and we should learn a ton from it. But its really not pure space exploration until man or woman gets up there as well. I would love to see the space program get funding back for manned missions.

And yes, Neil Armstrong was a hero and pioneer. The world could use more like him.

 

We'll need manned eventually. The planet is past sustainability at this point even if we cut out fossil fuel use. Neil was brave enough to take the risks and we can only hope future people will follow his example.

 

I can't see any real benefits to be gained from manned flights before there's some destination worth going to for an extended period of time (eg. to build a research base/colony if possible). So let the drones find the place first, be it Mars, Titan, Europa, Io or some other object in this fine solar system of ours

 

I'd sign up for Mars One straight away....

on topic: Neil was a great man and I was saddened after hearing of his passing