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Getbig Main Boards => Politics and Political Issues Board => Topic started by: howardroark on August 17, 2012, 08:23:35 AM
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The government is wasting your money - but who's surprised?
So, where does that leave all the hype and hyperbole surrounding the Curiosity rover? It's certainly not the most ambitious mission. It doesn't address any questions that haven't already been amply investigated by multiple orbiters and landers. It's not the first, but maybe the biggest, but only by a few kilograms. In fact, about the only big deals with this mission are the landing itself and the HD cameras.
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(http://lewrockwell.com/orig13/scene%20of%20the%20crime.jpg)
As for the nifty HD cameras, well they're controlled by a guy names Mike Malin of Malin Space Science Systems. This guy has well over a decade's worth of history NOT showing the full-resolution pix to the folks who paid for them. On the few occasions he's been badgered into letting loose of a few, he's gone out of his way to screw them up and fuzz out anything of interest. In other words, you won't catch me holding my breath waiting for the dazzlling hi-rez photos from this rover.
Where does all this leave us, once you strip away all the hype and hyperbole?
The rover management team keeps talking about looking for water. Well, for God's sake boys, let me help you. There are two polar caps chock full of water. The Vikings sent back photos of snow. There are thousands of pictures of water clouds. The Phoenix lander dug up ice. There are water seeps all over the place. And if you believe your eyes, there's even great pictures of lakes and ponds.
They tell us they are searching for the "building blocks" of life. Well, let me help you again. The Vikings found microbes in the soil. Some of those lakes and ponds have what look like algae that grow and die with the seasons. There are entire forests of giant tree-like things near the south pole. And gosh, what about all those pyramids, domes, buildings, and giant sculptures?
In the end, we are still where we were in 1976, only several billion dollars poorer. Sure, we've got lots of pretty pictures, but we don't get the really good quality ones. Those are for the personal collection of Mike Malin. Sure, we've got scads of data from sniffing rocks, but that only excites the geekiest geology buffs. Basically, what we've got is another multi-billion dollar ad campaign for rocks and vacation slide shows.
After 36 years and billions of bux, don't we deserve a little more than seven minutes of terror?
Read More: http://lewrockwell.com/orig13/grover1.1.1.html (http://lewrockwell.com/orig13/grover1.1.1.html)