• Question: Do you think we be able to recreate the big bang theory? Do you think we will be able to fly past mars enytime soon?

    Asked by huss312 to Christine, Edd, Jess, Nicolas, Zara on 16 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Zara Gladman

      Zara Gladman answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      Hiya huss! 🙂

      Recreating the Big Bang is exactly what scientists are trying to do at the moment with their experiments at the Hadron Collider… so far they’ve managed to produce a series of mini ‘big bangs’. More info here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11711228

      There are good answers to the Mars question here: /ecologyj11-zone/2011/06/will-we-ever-be-able-to-go-further-than-mars

    • Photo: Christine Switzer

      Christine Switzer answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      Interesting questions! Yes, I think that we will be able to recreate the big bang, though perhaps like the CERN experiments, it will little bangs. Flying past mars? Sounds great to me. We have sent a number of probes out to Mars and beyond. I think we will be able to send people to Mars sometime in the future but I don’t know how soon. It would be amazing to fly past Mars instead of just seeing photos. Whatever missions to Mars and farther beyond are big commitments. It would take years to get there and years to get back, which means that planning that kind of a project is really time consuming and expensive. We have to think about things that the Moon missions didn’t think about, like making sure there is enough drinking water and food for the whole mission, and waste management. A Mars mission would have to be self-sufficient. It would be exciting to be a part of it in some way and I hope to see something like this in my lifetime.

    • Photo: Edward Codling

      Edward Codling answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      I think this has been answered by the replies above. We have sent satellites to the edge of our solar system, but sending a manned space ship is quite different – we have only got as far as the moon so it is a big difference getting to Mars! We do have the technology now to do it though so I think it could happen in the next 20-30 years or so.

      We are recreating the big bang in the Hadron collider – I know some scientists wondered before they started the experiment whether it might turn into a real big bang and destroy the planet – thankfully it didn’t!

      This is a funny (although not altogether neutral) blog about the idea:
      http://www.darkgovernment.com/news/hadron-collider-or-earth-destroyer/

    • Photo: Jessica Chu

      Jessica Chu answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      I think the other scientists have covered many points!

      So here is just to add to the flying past mars question- we have sent spacecrafts further than mars!

      NASA have sent spacecrafts (called Voyager) further than mars.

      Check out this NASA website:
      http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/

      It has mentioned that “Voyager 1 completed its planned close flybys of the Jupiter and Saturn planetary systems while Voyager 2, in addition to its own close flybys of Jupiter and Saturn, completed close flybys of the remaining two gas giants, Uranus and Neptune.”

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