re: The official Interstellar thread (spoilers)

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While the vehicles look old, there's no conclusive proof for this either. Maybe they just stuck with a model after the Blight and ran with it for decades, since it's clear the world as a whole has given up on any type of innovation or creativity at this point.

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that's what I assumed too

Just the fact that it's so close to a black hole would make me leery of it. I get it though it was confirmed to have water which made it enticing to them.

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Yeah, that bugged me so much. It took a huge Saturn V style three stage rocket to escape Earth's gravity, yet they can go to a planet with 30% more gravity than earth and fly right off, from water like a plane.

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im just going to take a stab at this

if they had used anything else it might have looked like (to the citizens) that they were using funds for innovating. IMO the rocket was used to mask their mission.

considering the size of the ship, i wouldnt be surprised if NASA in the movie developed a type of propulsion that would be extremely more advanced than this.

you know the reason that the Space Plane doesn't need boosters is because it is dropped from high atmosphere?

Getting from the ground to 50,000 feet is maybe the biggest challenge.

If the rocket could take off like a plane on one planet, then it could take off that way from earth.

yea im just assuming in the 60 or so years NASA came up with a way that worked. obviously they would have thought about it since it would be a glaring problem. this is why i think the first rocket was to mask what they were doing.

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this is why i think the first rocket was to mask what they were doing.

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Why mask it at all? If the ship can take off like a plane, why not just have it take off in secret.

Just admit it was a plot hole and move on

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We've done a lot in those last 42 years. In fact those last 42 years have seen more scientific advancements than the previous 1,000.

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And why is that, you think? Do you think Silicon Valley was just something random that happened at the time that it did? No, it's because the people who grew up in the 60s and watched the Apollo missions got excited for science and engineering, and thus we got the men who dared to dream bigger about using things NASA is largely responsible for and taking them a step further. There has been an incredible decrease in the number of people seeking engineering and science degrees since the people who grew up with the Apollo missions. Now most of our scientists and engineers come from abroad, and they're no longer home grown. Give them something to strive for, like say Mars, and I guarantee you will see more students taking up those kind of jobs like they did in the 70s and early 80s. NASA is something that can inspire a nation to come together for a greater purpose. Now all those inventions are simply there for materialism.

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Going somewhere else is expensive. Most of the people here are anti tax. So would you be fine with a Nasa tax? Say lets make it a consumption tax. 1% of the sale of all tangible goods and services goes to NASA. would you support it?

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Abso-fricking-lutely, because NASA is estimated to return 7 dollars for every 1 spent on it. It is a very sound investment by our country. And NASA's budget is 3/10 of a penny on the tax dollar, and that's just embarrassing. In fact I would cut back sizably on the defense budget and give at least a penny on the tax dollar towards NASA, if not more. Space is the next great frontier, and the average asteroid that can be mined is estimated to have 15 trillion dollars worth of raw materials, not to mention the shite ton of Helium 3 and other elements found on the Moon. It may not pay off in say 10 years, but 30 or 40, you bet your arse it would, and it would cement America as the absolute powerhouse for a millennium.

This is the future, and as much bullshite as this country invests in, would you really not be comfortable with 1% of your tax paying dollar going to building a better future not only for our country, but for mankind as a whole and save us from inevitable extinction? Some variation of Interstellar will inevitably happen if we don't do it, and we may as well start now, since we're really over 40 years behind schedule. Go to the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, and it's just fricking embarrassing how the Saturn Rockets are actually more sophisticated than the shuttles we were launching in 2010.

I agree with your entire post. My Grandpa worked for NASA in Huntsville and even held the patent on a polymer used on Skylabs wing. He never lets you forget that, lol.

I for one think we should have never stopped, that NASA should always have the next launch ready. That we should have put a lot more into a space station.

I read years ago that Paul Allen and Bransosn maybe had a plan to make a space station from space junk.
The plan was to get eight liquid fuel tanks from the Shuttle and affix them in a ring.



That would have allowed the first tests on artificial gravity. It's a shame that these great and executible ideas come up, and get passed on because of expense.

You are right, every dollar into NASA has yielded a huge return on the investment.
Kids today don't care about space, Space is boring to them.

I say, build a space station, start harvesting asteroids, and get back to the Moon.


FWIW I just pulled that consumption tax figure out of no-where, but I would support it.
(most wouldn't)

So I had this thought watching it, so I'm gonna try to explain it all here.

Interstellar seemed to be the reverse of Inception. Characters go on extreme missions to get back/back to their children. But on these journeys, they face challenging obstacles. They have to go deeper/farther than any other person has ever gone. But in doing this, time is slowed down/sped up, which will possibly cause their mind to age and lose its memory/their children to age and possibly be gone by the time they return.

While Inception journeyed inward, Interstellar journeyed outward. Both done for the love of their children.