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send humans to Titan, it isn't a question of physics, it's a question of time, technology and commitment

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  send humans to Titan, it isn't a question of physics, it's a question of time, technology and commitment a425couple <a425couple@hotmail.com> - 2026-08-10 18:51 -0700
    Re: send humans to Titan, it isn't a question of physics, it's a question of time, technology and commitment "Jim Wilkins" <muratlanne@gmail.com> - 2026-08-11 09:04 -0400
      Re: send humans to Titan, it isn't a question of physics, it's a question of time, technology and commitment Stephen Harding <smharding@verizon.net> - 2026-08-12 14:49 -0400
        Re: send humans to Titan, it isn't a question of physics, it's a question of time, technology and commitment "Jim Wilkins" <muratlanne@gmail.com> - 2026-08-12 18:16 -0400
    Re: send humans to Titan, it isn't a question of physics, it's a question of time, technology and commitment Daniel <me@fuhgitabutit.com> - 2026-08-11 15:46 -0700
      Re: send humans to Titan, it isn't a question of physics, it's a question of time, technology and commitment "Jim Wilkins" <muratlanne@gmail.com> - 2026-08-11 20:51 -0400
        Re: send humans to Titan, it isn't a question of physics, it's a question of time, technology and commitment "Jim Wilkins" <muratlanne@gmail.com> - 2026-08-11 21:15 -0400
        Re: send humans to Titan, it isn't a question of physics, it's a question of time, technology and commitment R Kym Horsell <kym@sdf.org> - 2026-08-12 02:35 +0000
          Re: send humans to Titan, it isn't a question of physics, it's a question of time, technology and commitment "Jim Wilkins" <muratlanne@gmail.com> - 2026-08-12 08:10 -0400
            Re: send humans to Titan, it isn't a question of physics, it's a question of time, technology and commitment "Jim Wilkins" <muratlanne@gmail.com> - 2026-08-12 08:37 -0400
          Re: send humans to Titan, it isn't a question of physics, it's a question of time, technology and commitment Daniel <me@fuhgitabutit.com> - 2026-08-13 15:20 -0700
            Re: send humans to Titan, it isn't a question of physics, it's a question of time, technology and commitment "Jim Wilkins" <muratlanne@gmail.com> - 2026-08-13 19:46 -0400
              Re: send humans to Titan, it isn't a question of physics, it's a question of time, technology and commitment Daniel <me@fuhgitabutit.com> - 2026-08-13 19:43 -0700
                Re: send humans to Titan, it isn't a question of physics, it's a question of time, technology and commitment "Jim Wilkins" <muratlanne@gmail.com> - 2026-08-14 08:19 -0400
                  Re: send humans to Titan, it isn't a question of physics, it's a question of time, technology and commitment "Jim Wilkins" <muratlanne@gmail.com> - 2026-08-14 12:46 -0400
            Re: send humans to Titan, it isn't a question of physics, it's a question of time, technology and commitment R Kym Horsell <kym@sdf.org> - 2026-08-14 00:12 +0000
          Re: send humans to Titan, it isn't a question of physics, it's a quest "Phigan" <phigan@mutinybbs.com.remove-51d-this> - 2026-08-14 02:33 -0400
        Re: send humans to Titan, it isn't a question of physics, it's a question of time, technology and commitment Daniel <me@fuhgitabutit.com> - 2026-08-12 14:02 -0700
      Re: send humans to Titan, it isn't a question of physics, it's a quest "Phigan" <phigan@mutinybbs.com.remove-51d-this> - 2026-08-14 02:30 -0400

#313617 — send humans to Titan, it isn't a question of physics, it's a question of time, technology and commitment

from
https://spacedaily.com/t-a-real-group-of-scientists-and-engineers-spent-two-days-in-boulder-this-june-asking-what-it-would-actually-take-to-send-humans-to-titan-and-their-honest-answer-was-that-it-isnt-a-question-of-physics/

A real group of scientists and engineers spent two days in Boulder this 
June asking what it would actually take to send humans to Titan, and 
their honest answer was that it isn't a question of physics, it's a 
question of time, technology and commitment
The greatest obstacle to reaching Saturn's moon isn't overcoming the 
laws of physics—it's summoning the decades of sustained will and 
innovation that any human mission would demand.

By Lachlan Brown
Published August 10, 2026 · How we edit

A real group of scientists and engineers spent two days in Boulder this 
June asking what it would actually take to send humans to Titan, and 
their honest answer was that it isn't a question of physics, it's a 
question of time, technology and commitment
Illustration of Titan. Photo by Zelch Csaba via Pexels.
Iwrote last week about the strange fact that Titan is the one place 
beyond Earth where a person could stand outside without a pressure suit, 
even though the surface sits at roughly minus 179 degrees Celsius. I 
left that fact sitting there at the time, mostly as a curiosity. It’s 
worth actually following where it leads, because it turns out a real 
group of scientists and engineers spent two days in Boulder, Colorado 
this June doing exactly that.

What makes Titan genuinely unusual as a destination
The case for Titan starts with the same detail I keep coming back to: 
its atmosphere is denser than Earth’s, made mostly of nitrogen, and that 
thickness does real protective work. It shields the surface from a 
meaningful amount of cosmic radiation, which is one of the harder 
problems for any long duration human mission. That’s a genuinely 
different profile from the one I wrote about for Mars, where a 
NASA-funded study concluded the planet cannot be terraformed with 
current technology, leaving anyone there sealed against near vacuum, 
deep cold and steady radiation. Titan swaps one set of problems for 
another. No pressure suit, but serious insulation against the cold. Less 
radiation exposure, but an atmosphere thick enough that flying through 
it, by aircraft or hovercraft, becomes remarkably efficient compared 
with the thin air on Mars.

Titan also has abundant local chemistry to work with. Its methane, 
ethane and nitrogen aren’t just scenery, they’re potential feedstock for 
fuel production, which matters enormously for a destination this far 
from home.

Editors’ Recommendations
A tonne of old phones holds more gold than a tonne of gold ore. Each 
handset carries traces of gold, silver and copper, concentrated enough 
that recycling them, so-called urban mining, pulls more gold per tonne 
than an actual mine.

The summit’s agenda went well beyond atmosphere and fuel. Sessions 
covered spacesuit design suited to Titan’s specific cold and chemistry, 
habitat concepts, power generation, and how people might actually move 
around once they got there, alongside the environmental hazards 
particular to the place, things like tholins, the organic compounds that 
give Titan’s atmosphere its orange haze. Titan’s weather runs on 
hydrocarbons rather than water: methane rain, rivers and lakes, seasonal 
flooding, and winds that behave differently than anything in a water 
based climate. Every one of those is an operational headache for a 
future mission and, at the same time, a reason scientists find the place 
worth the trouble.

The actual case made in Boulder this June
The event was called the Humans to Titan Summit, held on 11 and 12 June 
at the Southwest Research Institute, and it was the first meeting built 
entirely around the question of what it would take to send people there. 
Amanda Hendrix, president of the nonprofit Explore Titan and director of 
the Planetary Science Institute, told Space.com that the point wasn’t to 
pretend a mission was imminent. It was to normalise the idea early 
enough that it could sustain momentum across generations of researchers. 
“The top reason in my mind that Titan is such a good spot for humans is 
the dense atmosphere,” she said, which tracks with everything I’d 
already found interesting about the place.

Editors’ Recommendations
The asteroid that ended the dinosaur age struck Mexico’s Yucatán 
Peninsula about 66 million years ago, and the sulphur-rich rocks beneath 
it helped turn a roughly 10-kilometre object into a global climate disaster

Fifty kilometres above Venus, pressure and temperature become 
surprisingly Earth-like and ordinary breathable air could keep a habitat 
afloat, but living there would mean building a sealed world inside 
sulphuric-acid clouds

The Artful Age
Scot Rafkin, who directs the Department of Space Studies at the 
Southwest Research Institute, offered a more measured framing of the 
challenge. In his view, sending people to Titan doesn’t run up against 
any law of physics. What stands in the way is simply the scale of 
engineering effort required, and how long it will take, and how much 
anyone is willing to invest in it. He added that the major science and 
technical gaps are already reasonably well mapped out, even if closing 
them will still take decades.

What has to happen before any of this
Every serious version of this plan runs through robotic missions first, 
and the nearest one is the mission I wrote about a few days ago: 
Dragonfly, the nuclear powered rotorcraft NASA approved to fly from site 
to site across Titan’s surface. It’s currently planned to launch no 
earlier than 2028, and given what I found when I looked into just how 
far Titan actually is and how much that distance varies depending on 
where Earth and Saturn sit in their orbits, it isn’t hard to see why the 
cruise alone takes roughly six years. Once Dragonfly arrives, it’s 
expected to spend more than three years hopping between sites, and 
whatever it finds about surface composition, weather, and chemistry will 
feed directly into any future habitat and landing system design, long 
before a human crew is a realistic conversation.

What I’d take from this
I don’t think anyone at that summit believes a crewed Titan mission is 
close, and none of what I’ve read suggests they were pretending 
otherwise. What struck me is the specific shape of the optimism. It 
wasn’t “we could do this soon.” It was closer to Rafkin’s framing: most 
of the hard problems are at least legible now, and legible problems are 
the kind that get solved eventually, on a timeline nobody currently 
knows. That’s a fairly humble thing to build a two-day conference 
around, and I found I liked it more for that reason, not less.

Free guide from Space Daily
The Universe in 12 Numbers
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#313618

"a425couple"  wrote in message news:reveS.79058$syk8.2990@fx36.iad...

from
https://spacedaily.com/t-a-real-group-of-scientists-and-engineers-spent-two-days-in-boulder-this-june-asking-what-it-would-actually-take-to-send-humans-to-titan-and-their-honest-answer-was-that-it-isnt-a-question-of-physics/

-------------------------------

We are at a level of hardware development when money and support instead of 
technology limit what we can do. Civilization has been here before, for the 
Romans, the West before the Renaissance, the Industrial Revolution (1800) 
and toward 1900, just before AC electricity and gas engines enabled great 
leaps in transportation. In many ways we were no more advanced in 1800 than 
the Romans, and considerably behind in public water and sewer utilities.

https://conversableeconomist.com/2015/10/19/exonerating-henry-ellsworth-and-charles-duell-former-u-s-commissioners-of-patents/

Airliners today are little different from the 707 of the 50's, and slower. 
Military jet speed hasn't improved since the 60's, it has actually fallen 
from Mach 3 to below Mach 2. General aviation still follows the plan of the 
Spirit of St Louis and Curtiss Robin. Cars of the 50's and 60's could have 
everything they needed, PS, PB, AT, A/C etc. Regulations on emissions and 
fuel economy forced them to become electronic but Model Ts and As show up at 
the diner on Cruise Night. The phone system still accepts mechanical rotary 
dialing. Manually operated machine tools are nearly identical to those of 
WW1. Hand carpentry tools have changed little since Jesus learned them from 
Joseph. I've been forming car rust repair panels with similar tools as a 
medieval armor maker.

I'm aware of the advances, in fact I contributed to some such as color 
printing and cell phone digital radios. Almost all of it depended on 
improvements in the density of integrated circuit photo etch masks, which 
enabled growing computer complexity. A considerable amount of what we have 
now was born as concepts in or around the 1930's, such as computers, 
antibiotics, jets, radar, plastics, nuclear power etc.

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#313627

On 8/11/26 9:04 AM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
 >
> electronic but Model Ts and As show up at the diner on Cruise Night. The 
> phone system still accepts mechanical rotary dialing. Manually operated 
I have an old phone with separate speaker and receiver (like in the 
1920s and 30's).  It has no rotary dial to dial a number.  You just used 
to have to hit the interrupt a few times to get "Martha" the switchboard 
operator, to place the call number you wanted.

I was able to use it when I hooked it up to my old computer that had 
dial capability (when you had to dial up the modem to contact to 
whomever) and the call would be completed.

People said I sounded like I was talking in a tunnel, which I sort of 
was (the speaker of the phone with the big cup to capture your voice).

Old technology working on more modern infrastructure.

Not sure you can do that any more.  Probably can add rotary dialing app 
to your computer but who would want to?


SMH

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#313629

"Stephen Harding"  wrote in message news:115if7g$121h9$1@dont-email.me...

On 8/11/26 9:04 AM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
> ...The phone system still accepts mechanical rotary dialing.

I have an old phone with separate speaker and receiver (like in the
1920s and 30's).  It has no rotary dial to dial a number.  You just used
to have to hit the interrupt a few times to get "Martha" the switchboard
operator, to place the call number you wanted.

I was able to use it when I hooked it up to my old computer that had
dial capability (when you had to dial up the modem to contact to
whomever) and the call would be completed.

People said I sounded like I was talking in a tunnel, which I sort of
was (the speaker of the phone with the big cup to capture your voice).

Old technology working on more modern infrastructure.

Not sure you can do that any more.  Probably can add rotary dialing app
to your computer but who would want to?

SMH

---------------------------------------

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strowger_switch
I took a night class in the telephone system, including cellular. The 
instructor said the wife of the town's other undertaker was the phone 
operator.

The Japanese used a stepping relay module from the phone switching system in 
their diplomatic secret code machine. Without ever seeing one the American 
assigned to build a test version happened to choose the same device.
https://www.nsa.gov/history/national-cryptologic-museum/exhibits-artifacts/exhibit-view/article/2718925/the-magic-of-purple/

The Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 allowed Japan 3/5ths as many battleships 
as the US because we had broken the coded message to the negotiator that set 
that minimum. They assumed half our force would be in the Atlantic and they 
would still have an initial advantage.

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#313619

a425couple <a425couple@hotmail.com> writes:

> from
> https://spacedaily.com/t-a-real-group-of-scientists-and-engineers-spent-two-days-in-boulder-this-june-asking-what-it-would-actually-take-to-send-humans-to-titan-and-their-honest-answer-was-that-it-isnt-a-question-of-physics/

Whoever funded this clearly had cash to burn.

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#313620

"Daniel"  wrote in message news:874ih0numc.fsf@rpi3...

a425couple <a425couple@hotmail.com> writes:

> from
> https://spacedaily.com/t-a-real-group-of-scientists-and-engineers-spent-two-days-in-boulder-this-june-asking-what-it-would-actually-take-to-send-humans-to-titan-and-their-honest-answer-was-that-it-isnt-a-question-of-physics/

Whoever funded this clearly had cash to burn.
--------------------------------------------------

That's a waste. The Titan mission will be crewed by non-humanoid AI robots 
immune to the environment and able to crawl, swim or fly as appropriate. We 
already have them on Mars.

There is plenty of less challenging uninhabited land on Earth.
https://study.com/learn/lesson/desert-geographic-location-formation.html

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#313621

"Jim Wilkins"  wrote in message news:115gg24$eeok$1@dont-email.me...

>..The Titan mission will be crewed by non-humanoid AI robots
immune to the environment and able to crawl, swim or fly as appropriate.

-------------------------------------
The hand is our only physical advantage over other life forms, and we are 
losing it to robots.
https://clonerobotics.com/hand

Why not a symmetrical hand with thumbs on both sides?

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#313622

In alt.astronomy Jim Wilkins <muratlanne@gmail.com> wrote:
> "Daniel"  wrote in message news:874ih0numc.fsf@rpi3...
> a425couple <a425couple@hotmail.com> writes:
>> from
>> https://spacedaily.com/t-a-real-group-of-scientists-and-engineers-spent-two-days-in-boulder-this-june-asking-what-it-would-actually-take-to-send-humans-to-titan-and-their-honest-answer-was-that-it-isnt-a-question-of-physics/
> Whoever funded this clearly had cash to burn.
> --------------------------------------------------

I think dont take this news item that literally. AFAIK it was training 
in thinking about hard problems. 
I can imagine if we've had a couple decades of picking all the low fruit 
it's time to put some pressure on, even if it's only in play, and get 
ready to change societal gears because the problems are only gunna pile 
up from here on.

> That's a waste. The Titan mission will be crewed by non-humanoid AI robots 
> immune to the environment and able to crawl, swim or fly as appropriate. We 
> already have them on Mars.

If the plan is to have more than one planet in the system with people on
in just in case some calamity happens, then you cant send a robot to
do that for you.

> There is plenty of less challenging uninhabited land on Earth.
> https://study.com/learn/lesson/desert-geographic-location-formation.html

-- 
We do these things not because they are easy.
-- Some guy

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#313625

"R Kym Horsell"  wrote in message 
news:115gm61$1ecj$1@nnrp.usenet.blueworldhosting.com...

If the plan is to have more than one planet in the system with people on
in just in case some calamity happens, then you cant send a robot to
do that for you.
--------------------------------
Robots could prepare a heated inhabitable base. I've lived outdoors in 
winter snow without heat in the Army and camping here in New Hampshire. We 
are very limited without warm hands. A screw fumbled and dropped in the snow 
can be lost until spring.

A calamity on Earth would cut off their support. Unless we can terraform an 
area on Mars sufficiently to be self-sustaining we would only strand the 
settlers there to die. Our polar installations here can't survive without 
resupply.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pituffik_Space_Base

At best they would be reduced to harpooning seals and whales for food and 
clothing. Explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson spent an arctic winter living with 
the Inuit and eating nothing but boiled fish. Explorers who scorned their 
uncivilized lifestyle died. I've read that we can live indefinitely on meat 
as long as it contains some fat; rabbit may not. It must be cooked to kill 
tularemia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin%27s_lost_expedition

After the dust settles and sky clears enough to let weed seeds sprout they 
would need to be able to return with enough supplies to recolonize a barren 
and possibly toxic or radioactive Earth. The Pilgrims didn't and half died 
the first winter. They were lucky to meet Squanto who spoke English and 
showed them how to farm the poor soil here. The first Virginia colonists 
vanished.

Squanto had been kidnapped by an associate of Roanoke's John Smith and taken 
to Spain, where priests bought and freed him and he found work in a London 
shipyard, then became a sailor and guide. European disease caught from 
fishermen had killed his village and the Pilgrims offered help to defend 
against their enemies.

The scenario is worth thinking about but we are far from ready to invest in 
preparations. AI robots able to maintain tech with extremely cold bare 
fingers may be essential.

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#313626

"Jim Wilkins"  wrote in message news:115hnqk$ptjm$1@dont-email.me...

> AI robots able to maintain tech with extremely cold bare
fingers may be essential.

---------------------------------------------
Google AI:
"Astronauts working on International Space Station (ISS) solar arrays often 
face intense challenges handling tiny bolts, specialized fasteners, and 
structural mounting hardware while wearing bulky pressurized space suit 
gloves. Small hardware elements like bolts and brackets require specialized 
tethered tools, pistol-grip power tools, and extreme patience during 
spacewalks (EVAs)."

The M2.5 screws that retain a laptop hard drive are examples of the small 
hardware that must be handled for essential maintenance. Current NVMe drives 
still have one.

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#313634

R Kym Horsell <kym@sdf.org> writes:

> In alt.astronomy Jim Wilkins <muratlanne@gmail.com> wrote:
>> "Daniel"  wrote in message news:874ih0numc.fsf@rpi3...
>> a425couple <a425couple@hotmail.com> writes:
>>> from
>>> https://spacedaily.com/t-a-real-group-of-scientists-and-engineers-spent-two-days-in-boulder-this-june-asking-what-it-would-actually-take-to-send-humans-to-titan-and-their-honest-answer-was-that-it-isnt-a-question-of-physics/
>> Whoever funded this clearly had cash to burn.
>> --------------------------------------------------
>
> I think dont take this news item that literally. AFAIK it was training 
> in thinking about hard problems. 
> I can imagine if we've had a couple decades of picking all the low fruit 
> it's time to put some pressure on, even if it's only in play, and get 
> ready to change societal gears because the problems are only gunna pile 
> up from here on.
>
>> That's a waste. The Titan mission will be crewed by non-humanoid AI robots 
>> immune to the environment and able to crawl, swim or fly as appropriate. We 
>> already have them on Mars.
>
> If the plan is to have more than one planet in the system with people on
> in just in case some calamity happens, then you cant send a robot to
> do that for you.

What calamity would necessitate sending a human population to Mars? What
problem would it solve? Pretend the endeavor can be done today for the
sake of thought experiment.

This is not a challenge to your statement, just having conversation.

--
Daniel
sysop  | air & wave bbs
finger | info@bbs.airandwave.net

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#313635

"Daniel"  wrote in message news:87se4h64sr.fsf@rpi3...

R Kym Horsell <kym@sdf.org> writes:

>
> If the plan is to have more than one planet in the system with people on
> in just in case some calamity happens, then you cant send a robot to
> do that for you.

What calamity would necessitate sending a human population to Mars? What
problem would it solve? Pretend the endeavor can be done today for the
sake of thought experiment.

This is not a challenge to your statement, just having conversation.
Daniel

---------------------------------

Likely a human presence on Mars would be a small, highly qualified selected 
group, like South Pole researchers, submarine or ISS crews. A study of the 
personalities of explorers et al. might reveal something of the traits they 
would bring back to resettle a devastated Earth.

Here's one:
https://www.16personalities.com/articles/roles-explorers

Google AI:
"In the TV show Angel (Season 5, Episode 15, "A Hole in the World"), Angel 
and Spike famously spend over 40 minutes arguing over whether cavemen or 
unarmed astronauts would win in a physical fight. Spike argues that raw 
primal savagery and survival instincts give cavemen the absolute win, while 
Angel defends the intelligence, size, and teamwork of astronauts."

That may have been a debate from a writers' meeting salvaged into a script. 
I think the outcome depends on whether the cavemen or astronauts could win 
the support of other tribes, which is how Cortez and Pizarro defeated 
powerful empires.

Lewis and Clark avoided hostility by demonstrating a high capacity assault 
rifle to the natives.
https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/lewis-and-clarks-girandoni-air-rifle/
"At village after village, the small band of 38 explorers was allowed to 
pass safely without a single casualty through some of the most hostile and 
warlike peoples on earth."
It's possible the Girandoni was Thomas Jefferson's.

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#313637

"Jim Wilkins" <muratlanne@gmail.com> writes:

> "Daniel"  wrote in message news:87se4h64sr.fsf@rpi3...
>
> R Kym Horsell <kym@sdf.org> writes:
>
>>
>> If the plan is to have more than one planet in the system with people on
>> in just in case some calamity happens, then you cant send a robot to
>> do that for you.
>
> What calamity would necessitate sending a human population to Mars? What
> problem would it solve? Pretend the endeavor can be done today for the
> sake of thought experiment.
>
> This is not a challenge to your statement, just having conversation.
> Daniel
>
> ---------------------------------
>
> Likely a human presence on Mars would be a small, highly qualified
> selected group, like South Pole researchers, submarine or ISS crews. A
> study of the personalities of explorers et al. might reveal something
> of the traits they would bring back to resettle a devastated Earth.

In my opinion, Mars is out of reach for human colonization. Our best bet
is the moon, and people could be ferried in and out like we do with the
ISS.

--
Daniel
sysop  | air & wave bbs
finger | info@bbs.airandwave.net

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#313643

"Daniel"  wrote in message news:87ecg18ls3.fsf@rpi3...

In my opinion, Mars is out of reach for human colonization. Our best bet
is the moon, and people could be ferried in and out like we do with the
ISS.
Daniel

---------------------------
Our ionosphere prevents us from receiving long wave radio signals and a dish 
antenna large enough for them is impractical for satellites. They require 
only the simplest technology to transmit and receive and are excellent 
candidates for alien transmissions if any are to be found. This project 
enables searching in an obvious but currently inaccessible frequency band 
for what we may be missing.

https://www.nasa.gov/general/lunar-crater-radio-telescope-lcrt-on-the-far-side-of-the-moon/

An orbiting satellite could collect and relay the data back to Earth.

Perhaps aliens just received the distress call from MGY (Titanic) and are 
coming to the rescue, or to observe our entry into technology. Or to conquer 
the primitives and exploit their new discovery as we did.

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#313644

"Jim Wilkins"  wrote in message news:115n13u$2h4cr$1@dont-email.me...

"Daniel"  wrote in message news:87ecg18ls3.fsf@rpi3...

In my opinion, Mars is out of reach for human colonization. Our best bet
is the moon, and people could be ferried in and out like we do with the
ISS.
Daniel
-----------------------------------
https://www.nasa.gov/general/lunar-crater-radio-telescope-lcrt-on-the-far-side-of-the-moon/

I strongly suspect that such an engineering project would benefit from or 
require human assistance to troubleshoot and solve unexpected problems such 
as snagged or tangled cables, dirt in connectors or soil unsuited for 
anchors. As a project of noncritical and limited scope it could provide 
experience for a mission to construct a permanent habitat whether it 
succeeds or fails. However a good location for it may not be accessible from 
a base near the South Pole.
https://www.nasa.gov/moonbase/

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#313636

In alt.astronomy Daniel <me@fuhgitabutit.com> wrote:
> R Kym Horsell <kym@sdf.org> writes:
> 
>> In alt.astronomy Jim Wilkins <muratlanne@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> "Daniel"  wrote in message news:874ih0numc.fsf@rpi3...
>>> a425couple <a425couple@hotmail.com> writes:
>>>> from
>>>> https://spacedaily.com/t-a-real-group-of-scientists-and-engineers-spent-two-days-in-boulder-this-june-asking-what-it-would-actually-take-to-send-humans-to-titan-and-their-honest-answer-was-that-it-isnt-a-question-of-physics/
>>> Whoever funded this clearly had cash to burn.
>>> --------------------------------------------------
>> I think dont take this news item that literally. AFAIK it was training 
>> in thinking about hard problems. 
>> I can imagine if we've had a couple decades of picking all the low fruit 
>> it's time to put some pressure on, even if it's only in play, and get 
>> ready to change societal gears because the problems are only gunna pile 
>> up from here on.
>>> That's a waste. The Titan mission will be crewed by non-humanoid AI robots 
>>> immune to the environment and able to crawl, swim or fly as appropriate. We 
>>> already have them on Mars.
>> If the plan is to have more than one planet in the system with people on
>> in just in case some calamity happens, then you cant send a robot to
>> do that for you.
> What calamity would necessitate sending a human population to Mars? What
...

Sommin like SL9 but aimed at Earth. 

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#313640 — Re: send humans to Titan, it isn't a question of physics, it's a quest

  Re: Re: send humans to Titan, it isn't a question of physics, it's a quest
  By: R Kym Horsell to alt.astronomy,rec.aviation.military,alt.economics,ca.politics,fl.politics on Wed Aug 12 2026 02:35:45

 > We do these things not because they are easy.
 > -- Some guy

"but because we _thought_ they would be easy."
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#313628

"Jim Wilkins" <muratlanne@gmail.com> writes:

> "Daniel"  wrote in message news:874ih0numc.fsf@rpi3...
>
> a425couple <a425couple@hotmail.com> writes:
>
>> from
>> https://spacedaily.com/t-a-real-group-of-scientists-and-engineers-spent-two-days-in-boulder-this-june-asking-what-it-would-actually-take-to-send-humans-to-titan-and-their-honest-answer-was-that-it-isnt-a-question-of-physics/
>
> Whoever funded this clearly had cash to burn.
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> That's a waste. The Titan mission will be crewed by non-humanoid AI
> robots immune to the environment and able to crawl, swim or fly as
> appropriate. We already have them on Mars.
>
> There is plenty of less challenging uninhabited land on Earth.
> https://study.com/learn/lesson/desert-geographic-location-formation.html

Far more realistic to send bots. But sending humans? psh

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#313639 — Re: send humans to Titan, it isn't a question of physics, it's a quest

  Re: Re: send humans to Titan, it isn't a question of physics, it's a quest
  By: Daniel to alt.astronomy,rec.aviation.military,alt.economics,ca.politics,fl.politics on Tue Aug 11 2026 15:46:19

 > > https://spacedaily.com/t-a-real-group-of-scientists-and-engineers-spent-tw
 > 
 > Whoever funded this clearly had cash to burn.

They could probably make a cool movie out of everything that came out of there.
That'd make some of it back ;).
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