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T O P I C R E V I E WgliderpilotukIn a half page article in The Times on Saturday Arthur C Clarke compares the return to the moon to Antarctic exploration. In 1911-12 ten men (Amundsen/Scott) made it to the south pole using rudimentary means. Antarctic exploration then lay dormant for the next 46yrs when man returned...and stayed. Of course IF all goes to plan it will be nearly 50yrs after Apollo 11 when man returns to the moon.He goes on to revisit the idea of the space elevator conceived by Yuri Artsutanov as a cheap alternative to the "old-fashioned" solid rocket boosters and he is hopeful that it will be built "25yrs after everyone has stopped laughing" ie 2015.Another thought occured to me: fewer people have plumbed the ultimate depths of the Earth's oceans than have been into space. Why the lack of interest?Paul Bramley spaced out quote:Originally posted by gliderpilotuk:Another thought occured to me: fewer people have plumbed the ultimate depths of the Earth's oceans than have been into space. Why the lack of interest?Well, for one thing it's nowhere near as glamorous as space exploration.For another, in many ways it's more complex to get a human being safely to the bottom of the ocean than to send them into space. Just in terms of pressure - in space your capsule just has to support regular air pressure versus vacuum. In the ocean the pressure differential that your vessel has to support rapidly becomes enormous as you decend.Astro BillThe oceans are being explored by unmanned robotic vehicles to eliminate the problem of pressure on human explorers. The Discovery/Science cable channels has a series of programs covering this subject.
Another thought occured to me: fewer people have plumbed the ultimate depths of the Earth's oceans than have been into space. Why the lack of interest?
Paul Bramley
quote:Originally posted by gliderpilotuk:Another thought occured to me: fewer people have plumbed the ultimate depths of the Earth's oceans than have been into space. Why the lack of interest?
For another, in many ways it's more complex to get a human being safely to the bottom of the ocean than to send them into space. Just in terms of pressure - in space your capsule just has to support regular air pressure versus vacuum. In the ocean the pressure differential that your vessel has to support rapidly becomes enormous as you decend.
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