NASA just announced it'll be visiting this beautiful moon for the first time

[Dave Lane]

The hunt for extraterrestrial life just grew a little hotter.

On Monday, during his State of NASA speech, administrator Charles Bolden announced that NASA would be selecting projects to accompany a probe to Jupiter's moon Europa.

Floating in space about 390 million miles from earth, Europa is a remote ice ball that harbors a massive ocean underneath its surface.

So massive, in fact, that scientists suspect Europa could have as much as two to three times more liquid water than Earth does.

Judging from the abundance of life thriving in Earth's oceans, where there's liquid water, there's the potential for life.

Not only that, Europa is absolutely gorgeous:


http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/54d0045769bedd1c3c35b1c5-1200-924/pia19048_hires.jpg

Europa is about 1,900 miles in diameter — slightly smaller than our moon. The brown veins that give the moon it's iconic beauty are still a mystery, but the leading theory is that they show where Europa's crust cracked open, letting warmer, dirtier water seep through and then freeze.
Jupiter's strong gravitational tug on the tiny moon generates tidal forces that stretch the entire surface — similar to how the Moon's gravity tugs the water in Earth's oceans, creating tides. The stretching then cracks the crust, letting water deep beneath the surface to seep through.

But that's not the only impact the gas giant has on its moon. As NASA astrobiologist Kevin Hand explains in a video about Europa:

Europa has liquid water because the moon is orbiting Jupiter, and the tidal tug and pull causes Europa to flex up and down — all that tidal energy turns into friction and heat that helps maintain this liquid water ocean beneath an icy shell.

http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/54d010cc6bb3f7a12d1b7745-798-592/ec10_cropped.jpg

Below is a close-up of the circular impact crater in the southern hemisphere in the image above. Called Pwyll, the impact crater is a relatively new feature on the surface of Europa, and it is also compelling evidence of the enormous ocean sloshing underneath the surface.
Scientists suspect that when the impactor hit, it splattered fresh, fine water ice particles everywhere that now show up as the bright-white arms adorning the moon's face around the darker crater. NASA's Galileo spacecraft — the only probe to fly by Europa more than once — took the image below in 1998 showing the darker crater, which is about 16 miles in diameter.

http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/54d007436bb3f7c4051b774a-800-1017/pia01211_modest.jpg

he impact crater's arms reach far across the surface. Even 620 miles north of the crater you can see evidence of the white streaks in the awesome close-up shot below.
The white and blue colors are the residual ice particles from the blast. Galileo snapped this photo of this region, which is 44 miles wide by 19 miles long, in 1996.

http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/54d00ba369bedd505235b1c9-864-386/pia01127_modest.jpg

Although Galileo took the most detailed images of Europa we have, astronomers still don't know exactly how much liquid water there is or if life hides underneath the moon's icy shell. That is why, just last year, NASA issued a Request for Information to the scientific community to offer up ideas on the best, economically viable approach to study this amazing moon.
Now, it looks as if some of those ideas might have paid off as scientists look forward to learning more about the future mission to Europa this spring.

According to NASA the mission should complete the following tasks:

Characterize the extent of the ocean and its relation to the deeper interior
Characterize the ice shell and any subsurface water, including their heterogeneity, and the nature of surface-ice-ocean exchange
Determine global surface, compositions and chemistry, especially as related to habitability
Understand the formation of surface features, including sites of recent or current activity, identify and characterize candidate sites for future detailed exploration
Understand Europa’s space environment and interaction with the magnetosphere.
Twitter users expressed their excitement about the latest news:



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-annouces-plans-to-visit-europa-2015-2#ixzz3QjmtNrnU

[-King-]

Europa Report

[Easy 6]

Its awe inspiring to wonder what kinds of creatures might be swimming around, this could end up being far more exciting than Mars.

[listopencil]

Sounds great. Heat, water and (hopefully?) chemical reactions. This is a massive frontier that we've barely looked at.

[Rausch]

Its awe inspiring to wonder what kinds of creatures might be swimming around, this could end up being far more exciting than Mars.

It should be.

And the likelihood of it being contaminated by life from Earth is much, MUCH smaller than Mars...

[notorious]

YES!


My favorite object in the Solar System.

[KC_Lee]

What's the over / under on finding a large, black, rectangular obelisk?

[Nightfyre]

YES!


My favorite object in the Solar System.

I hope you are including all of the objects on earth in this assessment. :)

[notorious]

What's the over / under on finding a large, black, rectangular obelisk?

http://www.critique-film.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/03-2001-A-Space-Odyssey.gif

[notorious]

I hope you are including all of the objects on earth in this assessment. :)



Other than Earth

[listopencil]

Its awe inspiring to wonder what kinds of creatures might be swimming around, this could end up being far more exciting than Mars.


http://mentalfloss.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_640x430/public/sea_monkey_pic_0.jpg

[Hammock Parties]

Watch the movie Europa Report. Good hard sci-fi.

[notorious]

Yeah, it's pretty good.

[-King-]

Watch the movie Europa Report. Good hard sci-fi.

It's not really hard sci fi....

[notorious]

"Lifeforce" was hard Sci-Fi, especially during my teen years.

[Hammock Parties]

It's not really hard sci fi....

It's harder than bullshit like Guardians of the Galaxy.

[-King-]

It's harder than bullshit like Guardians of the Galaxy.

Well yeah LMAO


But anyways, it was one of my favorite movies of 2014. Very good.

[ping2000]

Let's send Cosmo.

[Superbowltrashcan]

http://mentalfloss.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_640x430/public/sea_monkey_pic_0.jpg

My hand is up. I admit it. Yep I bought sea monkeys as an 11 year old with money saved from selling Grit newspapers door to door. I was so pissed when I got them and all they ended up being were brine shrimp. No crowns. No families. My first and most lasting lesson in "Buyer Beware". :banghead:

Looking again at the ad, interesting the strategic placement of limbs, tails, and offspring to cover up sea monkey private parts....

[stevieray]

Its awe inspiring to wonder what kinds of creatures might be swimming around, this could end up being far more exciting than Mars.

Leviathan?

....no thanks.

[listopencil]

My hand is up. I admit it. Yep I bought sea monkeys as an 11 year old with money saved from selling Grit newspapers door to door. I was so pissed when I got them and all they ended up being were brine shrimp. No crowns. No families. My first and most lasting lesson in "Buyer Beware". :banghead:

Looking again at the ad, interesting the strategic placement of limbs, tails, and offspring to cover up sea monkey private parts....

I had the plastic aquarium with "viewing ports" that were just distorted plastic that acted as crude magnifying lenses.

[Easy 6]

http://mentalfloss.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_640x430/public/sea_monkey_pic_0.jpg

LMAO if thats all it is, then we shouldnt waste the money... I was bored with those little bastards within 10 minutes, even as a very easy to entertain little kid.

And now I see I wasnt the only one expecting some kind of little "family" hahahaaa.

[Fish]

"They can even be trained".

That bullshit line pissed me off like you can't imagine...

[Easy 6]

Leviathan?

....no thanks.

The coolest transmission in the history of space travel would be some creature busting through the ice and dragging our car sized rover under.

[Hammock Parties]

The coolest transmission in the history of space travel would be some creature busting through the ice and dragging our car sized rover under.

There's a great passage in one of the Space Odyssey novels about a Chinese ship landing on Europa and being attacked by a giant underwater beast.

I've actually never read any of those novels but some of the concept art is terrifying.

http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130223063012/spaceship/images/b/b2/Tsien_cont.jpg

[Easy 6]

There's a great passage in one of the Space Odyssey novels about a Chinese ship landing on Europa and being attacked by a giant underwater beast.

I've actually never read any of those novels but some of the concept art is terrifying.

http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130223063012/spaceship/images/b/b2/Tsien_cont.jpg

Looks pretty much like the monster from Europa Report, right down to the glowing spots... thats whats exciting about this, who the hell knows whats up there.

Might just be microscopic organisms and the space equivelant of shrimp... or there might be something quite radical.

[Dave Lane]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/N1EBAn6Lpu8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Hammock Parties]

I can only imagine the fear and terror that grips this planet when we discover extraterrestrials for the first time and it turns out to be shrimp.

People will want to eat them.

[Easy 6]

Ha, that was freakin cool, why havent I seen that before?

[Coochie liquor]

My hand is up. I admit it. Yep I bought sea monkeys as an 11 year old with money saved from selling Grit newspapers door to door. I was so pissed when I got them and all they ended up being were brine shrimp. No crowns. No families. My first and most lasting lesson in "Buyer Beware". :banghead:

Looking again at the ad, interesting the strategic placement of limbs, tails, and offspring to cover up sea monkey private parts....

Should spent your money in these instead . Better investment.

[Dave Lane]

Should spent your money in these instead . Better investment.

I liked the Revolutionary War ones.

[-King-]

How long would it take for the probe to get to Europa? 2ish years?

[DaneMcCloud]

It would be a major disappointment if a probe didn't find life on Europa

[DaneMcCloud]

How long would it take for the probe to get to Europa? 2ish years?

NASA says 3 years

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/europa/faq.cfm

[Gadzooks]

The probe will get there and then what?

We don't even know what's roaming around the deep seas of Earth.
http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/307/9/8/angler_fish_by_127438-d322z3d.png

Don't get me wrong. Europa is my favorite of Jupiter's moons

[Dave Lane]

ALL THESE WORLDS
ARE YOURS EXCEPT
EUROPA
ATTEMPT NO
LANDING THERE

[DaneMcCloud]

The probe will get there and then what?

Don't get me wrong. Europa is my favorite of Jupiter's moons

Well if it actually finds life, it'll be worth the $2.8 billion dollars spent, IMO.

[jonzie04]

I cant imagine how deep the water is there if theyre speculating it has 2-3 times as much water as the earth, while being smaller than our moon. jfc.

[RINGLEADER]

"Lifeforce" was hard Sci-Fi, especially during my teen years.

And we're bringing it back! Series starts next fall. Announcement soon!

[Rausch]

I thank God for industry taking over as many space missions as possible.

Until NASA is free of DARPA and NI there won't be a legit mission in the clear...

[seamonster]

I'd almost wonder if this would be the better terraforming opportunity than Mars. mars has a tone of frozen carbon that could be thawed to create an earth-like atmosphere but it takes like 600 years. May be worth it after humans pillage earth and turn it into a chinese smogged out waste land.

[seamonster]

The probe will get there and then what?

We don't even know what's roaming around the deep seas of Earth.
http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/307/9/8/angler_fish_by_127438-d322z3d.png

Don't get me wrong. Europa is my favorite of Jupiter's moons

I know the silly english and other european frauds like to pretend they invented computers, but modern real-ass computing came from Intel and NASA rocket technology. Intel cut it's teeth building trajectory compute systems for nuclear bombs and NASA. I'm all for space exploration because of the innovation...SpaceX or NASA.

[BWillie]

I'd almost wonder if this would be the better terraforming opportunity than Mars. mars has a tone of frozen carbon that could be thawed to create an earth-like atmosphere but it takes like 600 years. May be worth it after humans pillage earth and turn it into a chinese smogged out waste land.

Who cares? You and I are not immortal. If I was, I might care. But I am not Duncan Macleud. I will die long before any of this makes any difference.

[jiveturkey]

This is exciting news indeed. Titan is the other major target that I hope they include in future missions. Mars seems like a total waste of time. At best it could be a base camp for missions deeper into the solar system. Ceres would probably be a better candidate for something like that though. It would also allow for easier access to the belt for resource pillaging.

I read too much scifi.

[keg in kc]

If Mars hosted an ancient civilization of some kind and/or was more earth-like before some catastrophe and/or has current life of any variety then it would certainly be worth exploring. Phobos is pretty quirky, too, as far as moons go.

I think we should explore everywhere we can possibly reach, though, and should look long term at colonization off earth. We're one event away from extinction, no matter how remote that possibility is, if we're only in one place. I don't think it will be pretty, or fair, when we start to migrate, but it needs to happen.

And it's taken these fuckers long enough to get to Europa. Be 20 years behind by the time we get there!

[tooge]

When we colonize it, the currency will be the Euro?

[DJJasonp]

Had to be done:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-f_DPrSEOEo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Gonzo]

Jesus. And my health insurance went up 30% this year...
Whatever. Fuck it. Yaay! Water moon.

[Hammock Parties]

This is exciting news indeed. Titan is the other major target that I hope they include in future missions. Mars seems like a total waste of time. At best it could be a base camp for missions deeper into the solar system. Ceres would probably be a better candidate for something like that though. It would also allow for easier access to the belt for resource pillaging.

I read too much scifi.

Terraform Mars! :)

[ROYC75]

NASA screwed up and took a pic of my eyes.

[Garcia Bronco]

Outer solar system has a low crime rate.

[Dave Lane]

Outer solar system has a low crime rate.

I don't know about that. I heard Pluto got robbed.

[DaneMcCloud]

And it's taken these fuckers long enough to get to Europa. Be 20 years behind by the time we get there!

I blame the Space Shuttle program.

I was a fan as a kid and I loved it when NASA, at the behest of fans, renamed the first shuttle, Enterprise. But I think that instead of pouring billions in that now dead program was mostly a waste and the money should have gone to more unmanned space probes.

Hopefully, NASA is starting to get it right.

[keg in kc]

I blame the Space Shuttle program.

I was a fan as a kid and I loved it when NASA, at the behest of fans, renamed the first shuttle, Enterprise. But I think that instead of pouring billions in that now dead program was mostly a waste and the money should have gone to more unmanned space probes.

Hopefully, NASA is starting to get it right.It started when they inexplicably shut down the Apollo program with equipment already bought and paid for and ready to head to the moon. And then as you mention shifted away from exploration and advancement toward the unimaginative low orbital repitition space shuttle program. However I think manned exploration needs to be an integral part of things going forward, for the reason I mentioned earlier: we need to get off earth. Early exploration with robotic craft makes sense but we need to be out there, too.

We also need to actually make some technological strides instead of continuing to rely on chemical rocket technology developed between the 30s and 50s. And I mean something more immediately practical than the Alcubierre drive. There has to be a better way to get payload (and people) into orbit.

And we need to get back to inspiring the leaders of future generations towards doing great things. Does anybody even dream about being astronauts anymore? Hell I'd take a one way trip to mars right now if it was offered. And that comes from that sense of wonder I felt in the 70s and 80s (yeah, even during the shuttle program...). Sometimes I wonder if we've just lost that, as a society.

[KINGPIN CHIEFS FAN]

It would be a major disappointment if a probe didn't find life on Europa

Like they would ever tell the general population if they ever did find some form of alien life. They still won't admit that UFO's exist because they don't think that normal citizens can handle the fact that there is other intelligent life in the Universe.

[Easy 6]

Like they would ever tell the general population if they ever did find some form of alien life. They still won't admit that UFO's exist because they don't think that normal citizens can handle the fact that there is other intelligent life in the Universe.

I think they would admit to animal life.

[WhiteWhale]

Like they would ever tell the general population if they ever did find some form of alien life. They still won't admit that UFO's exist because they don't think that normal citizens can handle the fact that there is other intelligent life in the Universe.

ROFL

Do you have evidence for this or just... you know... claims made because you watch too much Ancient Aliens?

[Easy 6]

ROFL

Do you have evidence for this or just... you know... claims made because you watch too much Ancient Aliens?

The evidence is there for anyone willing to look.

[WhiteWhale]

The evidence is there for anyone willing to look.

Is this like how creationists have 'evidence' and never actually cite it?

Is this how there is 'evidence' that crystals have healing properties but nobody cites it?

Stephen Hawking says if there are aliens we've done a better job of covering it up than anything in human history. What would he know though? He's only the smartest man alive who works in that specific field of study.

If you're going to claim there is evidence we are in contact with alien life the onus is on you to provide it. The burden of proof is not on me to disprove such a ridiculous claim.

Also

ROFL

There's a sucker born every minute.

[KINGPIN CHIEFS FAN]

ROFL

Do you have evidence for this or just... you know... claims made because you watch too much Ancient Aliens?

Bury your head in the sand all you want. If you're gullible enough to believe what the government spoon feeds you then there's nothing I can say to you to make you change your mind. I like to look at all possibilities and then make up my own mind.

[DaneMcCloud]

Alien life forms, anti-vaxxers - what more could one ask of a football forum?

[keg in kc]

If there is any 'proof' of extraterrestrial technology it's so highly compartmentalized in private industry (not government) that very few people are party to it. To both hide it and provide plausible deniability. Which is why I think the disclosure people are so ludicrous.

As far as alien life goes, they were rumored to have found chemical evidence of it in the 70s with some equipment on board the Viking landers (spectrograph iirc) and obviously fossilized evidence in rock here in the late 90s. And then the evidence publicized last year.

Plenty of evidence for life out there, I think we'll have a definitive statement including 'proof' soon. Appears to be a slow roll out.

As far as UFOs go that's a completely different kind of thing, and the believers, the skeptics and the debunkers/mockers will never find common ground short of a proverbial landing on the white house lawn. Which even then might be disregarded as an after effects hoax, and probably not by who you'd think.

But really do we need to bring UFOs into this thread?

[Fish]

Bury your head in the sand all you want. If you're gullible enough to believe what the government spoon feeds you then there's nothing I can say to you to make you change your mind. I like to look at all possibilities and then make up my own mind.

Who's gullible here? You can take the US government completely out of the equation, and there's still zero evidence of any existence of alien life.

The person saying "Show me evidence" clearly isn't the one burying their head in the sand. They're asking for more evidence of your ridiculous claim. That's the opposite of ignoring it. If you actually liked to look at all possibilities then you wouldn't be dismissing others as having their heads in the sand when they ask for further evidence.

[Molitoth]

Watch the movie Europa Report. Good hard sci-fi.

Just started watching.

[KINGPIN CHIEFS FAN]

[QUOTE=Fish;11310571]Who's gullible here? You can take the US government completely out of the equation, and there's still zero evidence of any existence of alien life.

The person saying "Show me evidence" clearly isn't the one burying their head in the sand. They're asking for more evidence of your ridiculous claim. That's the opposite of ignoring it. If you actually liked to look at all possibilities then you wouldn't be dismissing others as having their heads in the sand when they ask for further evidence.[/QUO How do you know my claim is ridiculous? That's just your opinion. If thousands of eyewitness testimonies and numerous videos, including military footage, doesn't make you at least consider the possible existence of other intelligent life in this Universe then you really have a closed mind. I'll stick with my opinions and you are welcome to stick with yours.

[Rain Man]

I've always been intrigued by Europa. It's so pretty and smooth.

[Fish]

How do you know my claim is ridiculous? That's just your opinion. If thousands of eyewitness testimonies and numerous videos, including military footage, doesn't make you at least consider the possible existence of other intelligent life in this Universe then you really have a closed mind. I'll stick with my opinions and you are welcome to stick with yours.

I have certainly considered the possibility. And I assure you I've seen all of the most convincing testimonies and videos. There's not a single one that is convincing of being extraterrestrial. With all the amateur video recording being done these days, and astronomy devices being pointed toward the sky, and continuous video feeds from all over the world, there's still not a shred of convincing physical evidence. Just a bunch of wild eyewitness tales. If the evidence would just match the wild tales just once, any evidence, then you might have a better foundation for which to create your conspiracy theories.

There is life out there. Without a doubt there is. But there's just no evidence it's ever been here in our neck of the woods.

[jiveturkey]

I've always been intrigued by Europa. It's so pretty and smooth.

Just a heads up, you're not in the Peta Jensen thread.

[Easy 6]

Here is a short but interesting little tutorial on Europa by a guy from JPL...

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ibJXxyb5fdU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[ozarkchief]

My dad saw some sort of flying craft that led him to believe that there are either ufos, or the government or some other entity has technology beyond what we're privy to. He was previously in the Navy, and was someone who had seen all sorts of military aircraft. Since he was absolutely certain of what he saw, I also believe. I wish there was some sort of proof...a picture or video, but this was in the 70s, so he didn't have a camera handy, unfortunately.

[Easy 6]

My dad saw some sort of flying craft that led him to believe that there are either ufos, or the government or some other entity has technology beyond what we're privy to. He was previously in the Navy, and was someone who had seen all sorts of military aircraft. Since he was absolutely certain of what he saw, I also believe. I wish there was some sort of proof...a picture or video, but this was in the 70s, so he didn't have a camera handy, unfortunately.

Thats a legit cool story, and people like your dad coming forward are a dime a dozen, thanks for sharing... but go to kegs paranormal thread in the media center to post more on this subject.

Lets not hijack a thread thats fascinating enough on its own.

[keg in kc]

I have certainly considered the possibility. And I assure you I've seen all of the most convincing testimonies and videos.You actually haven't, unless Ray Stanford's allowed you to look at his video library. He purportedly has a ton of great stuff, including a good bit of footage taken by the military. And almost nobody has seen any of it, because he's only shared it with select scientists and some of his friends and associates. It's extremely frustrating... In any case, while the shows are entertaining you'll never see anything convincing on h2 or on YouTube. Just fuzzy videos of blurry objects. And hoaxes.

The real stuff, the trace evidence that Ted Phillips has collected over decades or the Stanford videos just doesn't see the light of day. I wish it would.

But the other issue at hand for me is the way that 'UFO' has become synonymous with extraterrestrial. It has only ever meant 'unexplained', but decades of believer misuse, debunker slander and mockery by both the media and a scientific community that has never taken the subject seriously have combined to corrupt the term to the point that it's become pejorative.

People are seeing strange things. Hundreds of thousands of people a year. Some are misidentification of everyday things, some are no doubt military craft both conventional and exotic, and some are inexplicable. That last group represents the true 'UFOs' and I don't think anybody knows what they are. And they probably aren't even one thing.

The shame of this is that so few people are willing to look into them, that so many of those few that do look are loons trying to prove some wacky preconceived idea instead of going where the evidence leads, and that in large part because of them it's such a poison topic that most in the scientific community won't admit to an interest or openly research the subject, because overt admission of interest kills them with their peers.

[Fish]

You actually haven't, unless Ray Stanford's allowed you to look at his video library. He purportedly has a ton of great stuff, including a good bit of footage taken by the military. And almost nobody has seen any of it, because he's only shared it with select scientists and some of his friends and associates. It's extremely frustrating... In any case, while the shows are entertaining you'll never see anything convincing on h2 or on YouTube. Just fuzzy videos of blurry objects. And hoaxes.

The real stuff, the trace evidence that Ted Phillips has collected over decades or the Stanford videos just doesn't see the light of day. I wish it would.

That seems a little too convenient. And that type of claim has been made for decades, that the proof is out there it's just only accessible to select individuals. Kinda ridiculous if you asked me. Especially considering he has a book for you to purchase, to maybe learn more about this proof that will never come to light.

Either there's proof or there's not. There's always claims of potential smoking gun proof hidden away for some reason or other. Not once in the history of man have any of those types of claims actually proved true.

But the other issue at hand for me is the way that 'UFO' has become synonymous with extraterrestrial. It has only ever meant 'unexplained', but decades of believer misuse, debunker slander and mockery by both the media and a scientific community that has never taken the subject seriously have combined to corrupt the term to the point that it's become pejorative.

People are seeing strange things. Hundreds of thousands of people a year. Some are misidentification of everyday things, some are no doubt military craft both conventional and exotic, and some are inexplicable. That last group represents the true 'UFOs' and I don't think anybody knows what they are. And they probably aren't even one thing.

The shame of this is that so few people are willing to look into them, that so many of those few that do look are loons trying to prove some wacky preconceived idea instead of going where the evidence leads, and that in large part because of them it's such a poison topic that most in the scientific community won't admit to an interest or openly research the subject, because overt admission of interest kills them with their peers.

I think you are mistaken that so few people are willing to look into them. I think the better explanation is that many people have been more than willing to look into them, and found that none of them have ever borne fruit. It's BS to say that many in the scientific community won't admit to an interest. There's plenty of interest. There's just never been a single instance where the interest produced anything indicating extraterrestrial. Just one instance of legit evidence is all it would take. But that's never happened and nothing put forth so far would qualify.

[keg in kc]

I think you are mistaken that so few people are willing to look into them. I think the better explanation is that many people have been mor than willing to look into them, and found that none of them have ever borne fruit. It's BS to say that many in the scientific community won't admit to an interest. There's plenty of interest. There's just never been a single instance where the interest produced anything indicating extraterrestrial. Just one instance of legit evidence is all it would take. But that's never happened and nothing put forth so far would qualify.
The point I'm making has nothing to do with extraterrestrials. It's about how the scientific community at large will not touch the UFO phenomenon. It's about how there's a mislead social assumption that anybody looking into UFOs is just searching for 'aliens' and since our current science says it's impossible for aliens to be here they don't bother to look into the subject at all. Because only kooks look into UFOs. Don't think that's the case? Find me a news story from any local station or network that doesn't use the x-files theme and isn't part of the broadcast as comic relief. Good luck finding anything that doesn't involve George Knapp. UFO research has been mocked for literally decades.

Again I was and am talking about study of the UFO phenomenon. Meaning a search for explanations for events involving unknown aerial phenomena, not to prove or disprove extraterrestrial contact. And then you proved my point for me by going back to the default extraterrestrial dismissal.

[Dave Lane]

It started when they inexplicably shut down the Apollo program with equipment already bought and paid for and ready to head to the moon. And then as you mention shifted away from exploration and advancement toward the unimaginative low orbital repitition space shuttle program. However I think manned exploration needs to be an integral part of things going forward, for the reason I mentioned earlier: we need to get off earth. Early exploration with robotic craft makes sense but we need to be out there, too.

We also need to actually make some technological strides instead of continuing to rely on chemical rocket technology developed between the 30s and 50s. And I mean something more immediately practical than the Alcubierre drive. There has to be a better way to get payload (and people) into orbit.

And we need to get back to inspiring the leaders of future generations towards doing great things. Does anybody even dream about being astronauts anymore? Hell I'd take a one way trip to mars right now if it was offered. And that comes from that sense of wonder I felt in the 70s and 80s (yeah, even during the shuttle program...). Sometimes I wonder if we've just lost that, as a society.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BFO2usVjfQc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[displacedinMN]

I use this in class

95 worlds and Counting. Made in 1999.

at 34 minutes, they talk about Europa and landing a robot on it.
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u9Nyl_cHJEc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

http://youtu.be/u9Nyl_cHJEc

[GloryDayz]

I think they should plant a Chiefs flag in the ice...

[Hammock Parties]

I think they should plant a Chiefs flag in the ice...

Do we want the aliens thinking Earth is full of mediocre, scared pussies?

[GloryDayz]

Do we want the aliens thinking Earth is full of mediocre, scared pussies?

Like they don't already know...