Do Americans still have the drive to complete such a technological achievement as putting a man on the moon?

[NFS4]

Kennedy made his address to Congress on the importance of Space on May 25th, 1961 and we had a man on the within 8 years. Although I don't know how long the Apollo program had been in development before he made that address, do the engineers/scientists of today (and the American populous in general) have the same drive to achieve such a feat?

 

[FoBoT]

Originally posted by: NFS4
the American populous in general) have the same drive to achieve such a feat?

i would say no. our parents generation (my parents anyway, not for the kids here) didn't have xbox/hbo and such to distract them from "grand" ambititions like that

i don't think society is focused enough to do something like that right now

 

[MrDingleDangle]

i think a lot of that drive is now going into the medical field

 

[jammur21]

As a nation, today we're not as willing to throw huge amounts of money at a project. If the question is refering to the American spirit, then those SpaceShipOne guys show that its still alive.

 

[shimsham]

Originally posted by: FoBoT

Originally posted by: NFS4
the American populous in general) have the same drive to achieve such a feat?

i would say no. our parents generation (my parents anyway, not for the kids here) didn't have xbox/hbo and such to distract them from "grand" ambititions like that

i don't think society is focused enough to do something like that right now

agreed. also, its a case of "been there done that" and the fact that theres on one to compete with, like the soviets.

 

[ThisIsMatt]

Not to mention that there's no real motivation to go.

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: ThisIsMatt
Not to mention that there's no real motivation to go.

I'm not talking about going back to the moon per se. I'm talking about a massive amount of national manpower, resources and intellect going towards something other than war or national security.

 

[Cobalt]

I think most people would rather be surpressing gays and different religions than doing anything useful. :roll:

 

[sohcrates]

i read something the other day that basically said "we could never re-create the apollo space program team today"

their justifcation was that today's hiring practices are radically different from how they used to be. Today companies outsource so much hiring to HR divisions that the teams of workers they end up using , although they may be intelligent, can never work together and fit as well as some of the incredible crews NASA had back in the day

i think this makes at least some sense, and probably is true about a lot of industries

 

[Nitemare]

We are lucky if they get off the couch to find the remote.....

 

[Mik3y]

not like there's any point in going back to the moon anyways. with present technology, that is relatively easy to achieve. funding is the problem, and why would tax payers pay money for someone else to go to the moon again when it's already been achieved? as for mars, who knows. personally, i find mars far more reasonable than the moon.

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: Mik3y
not like there's any point in going back to the moon anyways. with present technology, that is relatively easy to achieve. funding is the problem, and why would tax payers pay money for someone else to go to the moon again when it's already been achieved? as for mars, who knows. personally, i find mars far more reasonable than the moon.

Read my last post...

 

[Armitage]

It's not the drive or ambition of the engineers that is lacking, and the technology certainly exists.
What is missing is the political will to spend the money to do it. And probably rightly so - unless we're going to go for more then a plant the flag/photo op mission.

 

[QuitBanningMe]

Originally posted by: ThisIsMatt
Not to mention that there's no real motivation to go.

as soon as we have a fusion reactor there will be plenty of motivation.

 

[QuitBanningMe]

and no they don't have the drive or desire at least not when it comes to opening the wallet.

 

[AMDZen]

First of all - there isn't any real proof that we ever made it to the moon. Paranoid propaganda aside, I have done tons of research on it and have yet to find irrefutable proof. The only way would be to go again and find the flag we left, among other things we inevitably had to leave behind. Which is reason enough to go again, if you ask me.

Second - the current society we live in is still too concerned with religion and god to make the strides in Science that we already can and should. In the 60's, the president said we can go to the moon, he knew we could, and all the Scientists agreed and so America said lets do it. Now, scientists have proven the benefits of Stem-Cell research and documented how much society would benefit from it, and what happens? We say No, we don't want to do that because it might be wrong in the eyes of God. Or whatever. And America actually stands by this president.

Sometimes I feel like we have travelled back in time 1000 years, and half expect the next people to clone something, to be executed in front of a live TV audience in Time Square.

 

[Staples]

No, Americans are lazy now days.

Such things would cost a ton of money and no one is willing to invest the time and money into big projects that do not guarantee success.

Most people are content with a middle class lifestyle.

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: AMDZen
First of all - there isn't any real proof that we ever made it to the moon. Paranoid propaganda aside, I have done tons of research on it and have yet to find irrefutable proof. The only way would be to go again and find the flag we left, among other things we inevitably had to leave behind. Which is reason enough to go again, if you ask me.

:roll: http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/tv/foxapollo.html

Second - the current society we live in is still too concerned with religion and god to make the strides in Science that we already can and should. In the 60's, the president said we can go to the moon, he knew we could, and all the Scientists agreed and so America said lets do it. Now, scientists have proven the benefits of Stem-Cell research and documented how much society would benefit from it, and what happens? We say No, we don't want to do that because it might be wrong in the eyes of God. Or whatever. And America actually stands by this president.

I have some trouble finding any ethical /moral issues in going to the moon. While I may not agree with them, there certainly are valid ethical concerns regarding stem cell research. apples/oranges

Sometimes I feel like we have travelled back in time 1000 years, and half expect the next people to clone something, to be executed in front of a live TV audience in Time Square.

 

[her209]

Breast implant technology have made fake breasts feel much more natural.

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: Staples
No, Americans are lazy now days.

Such things would cost a ton of money and no one is willing to invest the time and money into big projects that do not guarantee success.

What's the payoff of going back to the moon?
We already did the photo op/bragging rights missions. What should we go back for that justifies the tens of billions it would cost?

Most people are content with a middle class lifestyle.

 

[Landroval]

Originally posted by: NFS4

Originally posted by: ThisIsMatt
Not to mention that there's no real motivation to go.

I'm not talking about going back to the moon per se. I'm talking about a massive amount of national manpower, resources and intellect going towards something other than war or national security.

no

 

[EatSpam]

<begin christian rant>No way. This is America. We don't want any of that sciencey stuff getting in the way of our religion! Faith and science don't mix and science isn't sending me to hell!</rant>

 

[spaceman]

still amazes me to this day.

 

[AMDZen]

Originally posted by: Armitage

Originally posted by: AMDZen
First of all - there isn't any real proof that we ever made it to the moon. Paranoid propaganda aside, I have done tons of research on it and have yet to find irrefutable proof. The only way would be to go again and find the flag we left, among other things we inevitably had to leave behind. Which is reason enough to go again, if you ask me.

:roll: http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/tv/foxapollo.html

Second - the current society we live in is still too concerned with religion and god to make the strides in Science that we already can and should. In the 60's, the president said we can go to the moon, he knew we could, and all the Scientists agreed and so America said lets do it. Now, scientists have proven the benefits of Stem-Cell research and documented how much society would benefit from it, and what happens? We say No, we don't want to do that because it might be wrong in the eyes of God. Or whatever. And America actually stands by this president.

I have some trouble finding any ethical /moral issues in going to the moon. While I may not agree with them, there certainly are valid ethical concerns regarding stem cell research. apples/oranges

Sometimes I feel like we have travelled back in time 1000 years, and half expect the next people to clone something, to be executed in front of a live TV audience in Time Square.

Why don't you try going back and reading NFS4's second post

I'm not talking about going back to the moon per se. I'm talking about a massive amount of national manpower, resources and intellect going towards something other than war or national security.

See, I wasn't talking about going back to the moon, per se. I was using a modern example that plays the same role. Stem Cell research is a modern day example of going to the moon, it could cure TONS of modern day illnesses and diseases. I don't care what some Christians believe, most people don't share their moral concerns.

I was pretty much kidding about not going to the moon, I thought that was obvious.

 

[Cawchy87]

We are living in a society of distractions, not ambitions.