Your Predictions for the Future

[NASAFanboy]

I want to know your predictions for the future of human spaceflight. Yes, your Prediction. To kick it off, Inwill share mine...

I believe, that we should hand off lunar exploration to private companies, and our international partners. Personally, in terms of lunar exploration, I envisioned astronauts ferried there on golden spike landers, and living in inflatable bigelow moonbases, which will happen around 2027-2035. NASA should go on to accomplish the asteriod goal in 2025, and will construct an EML-2 outpost around 2023. The Mars Mission will be accomplished in the way of Mars Direct, and there will be an interplanetary base by 2050. Long story short....

2014- Flight test

2015- New Horizions flies paste Pluto.

2016- Juno arrives at Jupiter.

2017- SLS flight test

2019- Asteriod capture mission started

2021- Lunar Flyby, Lagrange point expedition.

2024- NASA constructs an outpost at EML-2

2025- Asteriod is captured and towed to lunar orbit. It is visited by astronauts.

2026- NASA launches to to explore interstellar space.

2027- Americans return to the moon with Golden Spike. Iran launches a man to space, but it collapses from internal political turmoil and starvation from the sanctions.

2028- Russia lands on the moon, in joint cooperation with ESA.

2029- China lands on moon. Russia begins building moonbase in a partnership with NASA. Meanwhile, Bigelow is also building an American moonbase. China follows suit.

2030- JAXA lands on moon. Begins building moonbase.

2031- NASA Mars Mission is launched.

2033- NASA lands men on Mars. Asteriod mining is now a major industry.

2034- India lands on moon.

2039- Lockheed Martins "Red Rocks" mission builds an American base on Deimos.

2042- Russia lands on Mars. Begins building base in partnership with ESA and NASA. The foundations for the Internationsl Mars Base are laid.

2045- Russia builds a spacestation in lunar orbit.

2049- NASA and Russia and ESA construct a station in Mars Orbit. China lands on Mars. JAXA and India follow.

2040-2050- Manned exploration of Jovian system. Single-cellar life is discovered on Europa.

2067- JAXA, Russia, India, NASA and ESA construct an manned outpost on Callisto. Humanity is now regarded as a spacefaring speices.

2070-2080- Manned exploration of the outer planets.

2090- First human outposts on Titan. By now, medical technology is advanced to the point that aging and other ailments can be reversed. The human lifespan now is around 120 years.

2110- Humanity launches its first interstellar probe, bound for Tau Ceti e. It will arrive fourty years later.

2111- Civilan colonization of the moon is widespread.

2130- Regarded as the proudest moment in the history of time, the first manned human expedition departs of the Tau Ceti system, known to haves habitable planet and 11 LY away. Terraforming of Mars begins.

2143- New technology allows for ships to reach up to around 78.9% light speed.

2178- Acclubirre drive is discovered. Human colonists flock to interstellar destinations, building humanity and their countries a interstellar empire that extends 600 LY from tip to tip. Humanity is now a Type I on the Karddashev scale. Humans have achieved practical immortality.

2200- The U.N, greatly aided by the U.S, increases its power, making it a form of one-world Goverment.

2210- International Space Elevator is constructed.

2225- Mars in terraformed.

2300- KSP 0.20 is released. Fanboys rejoice.

2340- Improved versions of Alclubberie drive spreads humanity throughout the Orion Arm and into the center of the galaxy.

2345- Humanity finds first multi-cellar alien life.

2459- Humanity now resides over and interstellar empire 30,000 light years from the center to the outmost reachs of the Orion arm.

2540- Humanity is now a Type II race on the Kardashev Scale.

2600- Humanity discovers how to use wormholes for travel, spreads out to M31 and faraway places.

3300- Humankind is now a Type III on Kardashev Scale. Voyager I hangs in a museum somewhere on Mars.

3400- Humanity is building massive computers the size of planetismoids.

10,432,133 AD- Humanity is a Type IV on Kardashev Scale. Humanity is traveling to other galaxies and has contacted many other alien races, and is widely regarded as the most powerful race in the galaxy. Earth is a glowing paradise, the crown jewel and Captial world of humankind.

I'm pretty sure of these. You can search all of them up to confirm them. I'm sure of each and everyone except the "Red Rocks" mission and everything after 2080, its one of those more obscure/not well recorded missions, even though it is quite likely to happen.

Edited May 12, 2013 by NASAFanboy

[segaprophet]

I won't get into details, but I am very excited for the 2015 flyby of Pluto by the New Horizons mission.

Next, I'm following the Inspiration Mars mission closely. I believe it is within our capability, both technically and financially, to pull off within the outlined mission window.

Beyond that, I'm very keen to see any new missions to Mars, Europa or Titan ; 3 very big targets for exploration.

Edited May 11, 2013 by segaprophet

[Malaugrym]

I cannot say I'm learned enough to make predictions even remotely in the realm of possibility, leaving me with my fondest wish. Like many others, I simply wish to leave Earth before I die. The manner, destination, and eventual result are, to me, irrelevant.

[CalculusWarrior]

You forgot one:

2050: KSP 1.0 is released.

[Nibb31]

Didn't we already have this thread in the Science Labs forum?

[Tw1]

Sounds like this belongs in science or off-topic.

I'm thinking it may be Mars One that gets there first.

[MBobrik]

Predictions for the future ? All western countries will get bankrupt in a few years. After collapse of virtually economical and political structures in the west, fascism, or more exactly the most recent mutation under another, vaguely positive name will rise again. After a few short years more, world war 3 ensues, and all that will be left from this failed shot at civilization will be some radioactive ruins and a few small tribes of survivors in remote areas trying to survive in the wrecked climate we are creating. Our future is a man-made population bottleneck of the Toba scale if not worse.

Edited May 11, 2013 by MBobrik

[SunJumper]

Didn't we already have this thread in the Science Labs forum?

Yes, it was destroyed in the purge.

In writing a novel series set in 2072, I made the following predictions:

2040s - Mission to the moon (for a permanent base)

2060s - Mission to Mars (no permanent base)

2071 - Mission to Ceres (part of the plot)

[stargazer1235]

Here are my thoughts:

2015: New Horizon flies past Pluto

2017: Work begins on a self sufficient on water city

2018: Work begins on self sufficient underwater city.

2020: The US lands on Asteroid

2021: China returns to the moon and initiates the second space race.

2022: Japan, India, Australia and the APEC nations join forces to combat china.

2025: The USA, APEC and the EU start construction if a moon base.

2028: China land rover on Mars

2033: Moon base completes

2036: NK falls and joins SK and the APEC nations.

2040: Nuclear Fusion is perfected

2041: The moon is opened up to private mining companies to mine Helium-3.

2045: China goes democratic and relations between the US normalize.

2047: Particle accelerators find that you can travel faster then light and prove Einstein

wrong.

2050: The international community starts work on a mars project.

2059: Man reaches Mars.

2063: Mars base starts construction

2070: Mission to the Jovian system planned.

2078: Mission to Jupiter launched.

2080: While mission is in progress, plans for Titan are drawn up.

2083: Mankind reaches Jupiter.

2090: Mars base is completed

2100+: Homo Sapiens go out to Titan and using the discovery of FTL in the 40s we head out to the stars.

Edited May 11, 2013 by stargazer1235

[NASAFanboy]

By the way, I believe the head of NASA wants to avoid a second space race, in fear it will set the US back from Mars.

Also, many of you forget that the west has been through many other economic depressions, which were worser than the panic of 2008 and yet we always pull through and survive. (I.e Great Depression, Panic of 1980...)

[Daze]

2020-2025: Second Human program to Moon

2025: Skylon Project will be complete

2030: ISS 2 construction and first human flight to Mars

2035: Space Tourism

2040: Helium-3 extractor on the Moon

[Yuming]

I hope China goes democratic long before 2045...

[NASAFanboy]

I hope China goes democratic long before 2045...

I really not sure of that. America is a democratic, and they squander all their money on Middle-Eastern wars and cannot decide on anything.

[NASAFanboy]

Sounds like this belongs in science or off-topic.

I'm thinking it may be Mars One that gets there first.

Mars One is a bunch of powerpoints and blank contracts....

[Yuming]

I really not sure of that. America is a democratic, and they squander all their money on Middle-Eastern wars and cannot decide on anything.

No, the United States is a republic. If the U.S got past the impossible havoc of getting everyone to vote on everything,(as in a true democracy) they may be better off, because then the authority that the senators and others have would be delegated to minds that care less about party and reelection.

[DJEN]

Predictions for the future ? All western countries will get bankrupt in a few years. After collapse of virtually economical and political structures in the west, fascism, or more exactly the most recent mutation under another, vaguely positive name will rise again. After a few short years more, world war 3 ensues, and all that will be left from this failed shot at civilization will be some radioactive ruins and a few small tribes of survivors in remote areas trying to survive in the wrecked climate we are creating. Our future is a man-made population bottleneck of the Toba scale if not worse.

Yes indeed.

[SkyRender]

2170: A large alien cylinder visits our solar system and we explore it and learn much about an extremely advanced alien culture that did not survive its space ark's voyage.

2200: Humanity forgets everything it learned in the previous 210 years and decides to attack a second space ark from the same species with nuclear missiles. Amazingly, humanity is not obliterated for this display of stupidity.

2240: A third space ark comes along and humanity behaves worse than a pack of primates during the observation period they were explicitly told would be happening.

No wait, those last two would just be stupid. Forget I said anything.

[allmappedout]

Predictions for the future ? All western countries will get bankrupt in a few years. After collapse of virtually economical and political structures in the west, fascism, or more exactly the most recent mutation under another, vaguely positive name will rise again. After a few short years more, world war 3 ensues, and all that will be left from this failed shot at civilization will be some radioactive ruins and a few small tribes of survivors in remote areas trying to survive in the wrecked climate we are creating. Our future is a man-made population bottleneck of the Toba scale if not worse.

Does that mean its time to start collecting bottle caps?

[DJEN]

Does that mean its time to start collecting bottle caps?

Nope. Believe in god and hope to die.

[allmappedout]

Nope. Believe in god and hope to die.

I think i'll skip that part, and load up on Nuka-Cola instead.

[EndOfTheEarth]

2015--New Horizions

2016--SLS gets canceled last minute due to administration change.

2017--SpaceX goes bankrupt due to capsule issue.

2021--American part of ISS de-orbited.

2023--NASA shut down due to claims of "sustainability"

...

2065--Chinese moon landing, American political parties blame each other, consider restarting NASA, but decline, again due to claims of "sustainability"

2078--Chinese moon base, claim moon. American parties consider effort to retake moon, but decline due to claims of sustainability.

2107--Moon base becomes self-sustaining.

2132--Large nuclear war on Earth over population issues, due to sustainability not proving to be sustainable. Moon base survives by not getting involved.

2159--plant-damaging virus wreaks havok on moon colonies, resulting in increased tension.

2163--War on the moon, plant resources destroyed.

2164--Last human dead.

1,036,721--Voyager and Pioneer space probes rendered unintelligible by interstellar winds.

1,670,339,212--Europans/Endeladans show Earth to be uninhabited, uninhabitable mess. Mission to send maping probes declined due to being considered unsustainable.

[SecondGuessing]

2050 - humankind finally comes to its senses and stops pissing around with silly little dreams about being in space just in time to appreciate the fact there's no fuel left and we're all dying. That is if there isn't a nuclear exchange precipitated by some event in the Mesopotamia first. Yay!

[simonh]

We've barely sent anything at all to the Moon since 1969, let alone people. If there really was any good reason to go there at all, we'd have rovers and lunar satellites all over it. The trouble is, apart from potentially He3, which may or may not every be worth the bother, there's just nothing there we don't already have in abundance here.

The same goes for Mars, except scratch the He3.

Personally I think the asteroids are much more interesting in terms of actual reasons to investigate them. They're a potential threat to us, and may have useful resources which maybe, just maybe might be worth extracting.

In terms of timeline, it's going to be a good long while before people go back to the Moon. China might do it for national prestige reasons. Their current pace of manned space flight is extremely leisurely though. They really don't seem to be in any hurry, so I'd guess they might go for it in another 20 or 30 years. It's more likely to happen if they think they need the propaganda value, e.g. if they have any major disasters or upheavals.

I think it's possible we might have a manned mission to mars by the end of the century, but I think it's highly unlikely.

Put it this way, no human has been beyond LEO for about 40 years. We have no more good reasons for them to do so now than at any time during that period, and practically speaking our technology is only very slightly better than back then as well.

Simon Hibbs

[NASAFanboy]

We've barely sent anything at all to the Moon since 1969, let alone people. If there really was any good reason to go there at all, we'd have rovers and lunar satellites all over it. The trouble is, apart from potentially He3, which may or may not every be worth the bother, there's just nothing there we don't already have in abundance here.

The same goes for Mars, except scratch the He3.

Personally I think the asteroids are much more interesting in terms of actual reasons to investigate them. They're a potential threat to us, and may have useful resources which maybe, just maybe might be worth extracting.

In terms of timeline, it's going to be a good long while before people go back to the Moon. China might do it for national prestige reasons. Their current pace of manned space flight is extremely leisurely though. They really don't seem to be in any hurry, so I'd guess they might go for it in another 20 or 30 years. It's more likely to happen if they think they need the propaganda value, e.g. if they have any major disasters or upheavals.

I think it's possible we might have a manned mission to mars by the end of the century, but I think it's highly unlikely.

Put it this way, no human has been beyond LEO for about 40 years. We have no more good reasons for them to do so now than at any time during that period, and practically speaking our technology is only very slightly better than back then as well.

Simon Hibbs

You forget why we went in the first place. We were at war, Cold War. We simply abandoned the moon, turning our sights to Mars and beyond. Russia has declared its plans, so has Bigelow declared its own, sort of dragging NASA onboard.

[ouion]

hey, this post is suppose to be in off topic.