Gingrich promises 'moon colony' if he gets elected (twice)

[j0frenzy]

I like how the driving concern of implausibility was that a treaty would prevent it from being American owned. Gingrich is a Republican, the party of America can do no wrong and is not bound by other countries. Besides, when we actually get to the point of building colonies is space, that treaty is going to go out the first airlock to be built.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

Hopefully he'll get elected and then Ken Levine can make a sweet game out of this.

Lol that was the first thing I thought, I guess that Dominoes on the moon will have someone to serve if he gets into office...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/8734456/Dominos-plans-pizza-on-the-Moon.html

 

[OniaPL]

Ahh, how I love politicians and their empty promises.


Nothing against Obama, I just always thought that this video perfectly illustrates how ridiculous the promises are, and how ridiculous it is that some americans believe them without applying any sort of critical thinking.

 

[KnowYourOnion]

Yeah, let's all go live on the moon and get cancer!

You've got my vote, Newt!

Edit: Wait, ignore this post it contained dangerous levels of ignorance

 

[Daverson]

It's worth pointing out this isn't an empty claim. NASA had all but completed the designs for their moon-base during the Bush administration [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_outpost_%28NASA%29], but the entire project was shelved by a certain someone when he got elected.

Getting stuff to the moon isn't the biggest problem. The biggest problem with any lunar colony is going to be the length of the lunar night (about 29 days), which causes problems for solar power. The best solution is to set up shop near one of the poles, where you've got continuous daylight, but that effectively means getting to the moon first... unless you've got no quarrels with stealing someone else's moonbase.

 

[Gearhead mk2]

...Why do americans vote? Apart from Obama, they all seem to be the same imperialist, greedy, white as snow, out of touch, senile old man.

 

[Chrono212]

The man's a fucking moron.

Bush promised it when he couldn't see it through.
Obama canceled it because, you know, recession.
Gingrich...has no clue.

We, humanity that is, it's still decades away from being able to do anything like that.
I happen to have some personal experience with the real Luna return program and, considering NASA doesn't even have a launch system for low earth orbit, I'd say 8 years is way too short to develop a brand new system for habitation.

This isn't going there and coming home in a week. This is permanently living on another world.

Hello? We can't even live on the Poles self sufficiently! How the hell are you supposed to live somewhere when the soil is like glass and trying to ruin your day!

And thats just scratching the surface of engineering problems let alone funding!

It took 5% of the US budget in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s for a day trip that took over a decade and a half to plan.

And this madman wants it done in 8 years on a shoestring?

Actually, the biggest point would be:
Why? What would be the point of going back permanently?

 

[DRes82]

One of the reasons that I voted for Obama was his grand re imagining of the American Space Program. So yeah, what happened to that?

Don't lose sight of what these conservative candidates really want. Censorship and free access to wildlife preserves for the oil industry.

Believe me, I would love nothing more than to see humanity take its first significant steps into space...to live on the moon and to mars, but empty promises from a dishonest, corrupt, isolationist, extreme right wing conservative are not going to get us there.

 

[Thaluikhain]

There is a large amount of space debris from old satellites fuel tanks from space shuttle launches etc up there. They should get that stuff together and crash land it on the moon. Plenty of raw materials to make a start, considering how expensive it is to get materials up there that is.

Just collecting it all would be a hell of a challenge, but crashing it into the moon?

Ok, yeah, big explosions in no atmosphere and low gravity would be fun to watch, but not very practical.

They way things are going, China will get there first, anyway.

 

[GrungyMunchy]

What a fucking idiot. We're in the deepest economical crysis of the last 80 years and this dipshit is promising moon colonies? For what purpose?

 

[ShindoL Shill]

HOORAY! why the fuck would we want to live on a rock with no food sources, no running water and no breathable atmosphere, that we haven't spent centuries developing?

 

[Sebass]

I think I'll still keep to my plan to vote for Vermin Supreme. He's promising every American a free pony.

Correction: a MANDATORY pony that you are required to take with you at all times as identification. What if I don't want a pony? I can't take care of my cat, let alone a pony. Also, ponies smell bad. And I can't even ride on them because they're so small !

Vermin Supreme is just another politician bought by the corporations, pandering to his MLP campaign donors.

 

[Spartan448]

AAAnnnnd, Gingrich just lost my vote.

 

[Call me Baz]

The real question here is "What's the point?"

I thought we stopped missions to the moon because it has no further use to us, or did I miss a space-memo? As for do-able, I think sure, it will probably look like that episode of Doctor Who where they find the devil locked in a planet next to a black hole?

Yeah ... now we see how close we are getting to sounding so smart we're DUMB.

 

[RagTagBand]

Yeah sorry this is just sound byte, lofty promise material. I'm sure he has no actual intention of setting up a "Moon base". I mean FFS he's a creationist; he clearly has no love, like, respect or understanding of science.

 

[Major_Tom]

It sounds like something a cartoon supervillain would promise to sway naive followers

I'm not a fan of Gingrich, but the same might have been said about Kennedy when he made that famous speech. I think a moon base is entirely within current technological capability and is actually a pretty good goal.

Yeah, but Kennedy made that speech because he had already bought the space travel technology from Yugoslavia. I kid you not. There's even a documentary about it coming in 2013.

Gingrich on the other hand is just a candidate. He has no technology, no influence, nothing! He is talking out of his ass. It seems that these Yugoslavians have a certain knack for science. I'm sure you all know that Tesla was from Serbia, which was a part of Yugoslavia once.

Sorry, but I don't think this is legit (it would be awesome, though). Object 505 (Aerodrom Zeljava) was an underground military air base, you can still explore it's ruins and while it is impressive there is no trace of a "space program".

OT: Wait, this is the guy who is trying to stop "Obama's Secular-Socialist Machine"? Yeah. No Moon colonies for you!

 

[Justanewguy]

Shit. He just may have my vote on that alone. Though, that's not saying much in this stinker of an election.

I've been a Mitt supporter for four years now, and I'll be honest in saying that this one could very well sway me too. :\