The problem w/ the "women only" conclusion is that it myopically focuses on **ONE** factor as if it is the determining factor in mission success.

Part of this is the fault of NASA admin/beauracracy: "We can't spare the weight" is an excuse for all kinds of ideas NASA wanted to kill...

"Too heavy" is almost a trope in NASA/space circles...it's the go-to way for beauracrats to make their presence known.

As others have pointed out, weight and food requirements are not a determining factor in mission success.

At best, the "weight is everything" mentality is obsolete...IMHO it was never about weight ultimately (of course it matters to mission planning)...it was just a handy excuse.

Also...there is some misplaced feminism here...women have been dismissed from science b/c sexism for centuries, and often the reasons given are something **other than gender**...a beaurecratic answer that belies the real motivation for the decision.

All in all, dumb analysis like in TFA are a legacy of sexism and bad beaurecratic management...it's like the sexism equivalent of what the CIA calls "blowback"

this is why i don't like Burning Man...

1st problem is in bold...see, Burning Man is about overcomplicating and mystifying something to make it have social cachet...****ANYTIME**** you ask a question like this to a Burning Man veteran, you should expect a bullshit answer...somehow it will be bullshit

2nd problem is in italics...the problem is not trusting your own common sense! obviously they are full of shit and just making stuff up to sound like they know what is going on

in other words, the problem lies with the ice truck people ("Arctica")...they are just douchebags...they could try to make it better but they don't care....the problem with this system is that Burning Man as an event encourages this superiority complex mentality

depends on the school!

some schools matter, and some do not....and some that matter are a benefit, and some are a drawback!

if an applicant came from a program that distinguishes itself among others by *requiring all grads to make a capstone project* for example...that could be a point in the applicants favor over others who did not do a capstone

everyone wants a fighting robot league...it's like jetpacks, hover boards, and other stuff featured in sci fi depictions of "the future"

fighting robots are awesome...this is not in dispute...

here are the 3 most salient factors as to when we will have a fighting robots league:

1. technology...especially materials science...we've gotten to the point conceptually that we can model any form of robot, but it's making the materials stand the stress, and batteries to power it...those are our limitations now

2. $$$...fighting robots are expensive...a league needs money

3. competition > PR...they have to be the opposite of MLS or WWE...this has to be done right and not over marketed or over simplified (how it can go wrong: something like the random narrator voice in Mythbusters)

this is your formula for a robot fighting league

just stop it

you admit that China's "space program" is mostly PR (like most of what a totalitarian communist gov't does...) but then somehow make a logical "leap" to just assuming that China will advance beyond the US's capability

see, we went to the moon for many reasons...for science, to hide our development of ICBM's, because Americans are explorers by nature, to make sure the Russians' didn't use space to dominate us, AND...among many other reasons...'public relations'

China has never leapfroged anyone in the modern world except in one area: pollution

i don't think someone orchestrated the need for both parents to work as part of a way to alter the brain structure of a generation...

but there is no denying that people with low impulse control make better consumers...

China is not a modern country...they can barely do PR stunt space exploration

wake me up when these countries don't have masses of people pooping in plastic shopping bags in the streets

again...China's space program is PR not exploration and not a 'threat' in any way shape or form

give me a break...

if you want to "evolve" yourself and shed your mortal coil just put a bullet in your head and save us all the trouble

if it is merely a question of technical ability, we crossed that line ***decades ago***

we could be on Mars right now

look at every NASA project (and total up the $$$$$)...shuttle, WIMP detectors, etc and we could **easily** have the budget to go to Mars

we have the technical ability, but our global society is still caught up in very short-term view

also: there are actually people who claim to be space explorers who are ***anti-manned mission*** not just pro-probe, but also anti-human exploration...these people are involved in space industry at every level

we could be there right now if we had the guts

an Amish would make a bad FBI agent...

which, IMHO, is the point....

if i wanted to cripple an organization that fights crime, i'd put archane rules about hiring that ensures only Mormons who do what they are told always without question could get a job

nice...this way, the criminals only have to bribe the boss

everyone else will just do as they are told without question

if any part of you was interested in productive conversation you would have listed a policy...

idk...

> pollution regulation
> "global warming"
> fracking
> NSF funding
> religion in school textbooks

any of those would have been fine...but you're just trolling, so you just highlighted and blockquoted me and continued your logic-offending rhetoric

again...you proved to be trolling by not even attempting to engage in rational discussion

list the GOP's recent policies on anything dealing with science or the application thereof and that is also a list of anti-science GOP policies...they are the same list

look, everyone knows you are trolling...i'm conversing with you for my own reasons...but it's this simple...**you** pick any policy that deals with science and i will explain why the GOP's policy, especially in congress, is anti-science

so you tell me a US policy issue that involves science and i'll take it from there

GOP'ers hate science...and work in lockstep to oppose it by policy

that's not in dispute here...anyone rational enough to understand how our system works and looks at policy rhetoric and votes can draw this conclusion from basic information

that's your problem, you're using rhetoric to support a position that is unsupportable

i'm not stereotyping 'GOP'ers'...here is a stereotype: "all asians are bad drivers"

stereotypes are unfairly categorizing a group of people based on non-relevant information

GOP'ers choose to support anti-science policies of their own free will, which makes them fair game

spying is spying

whether it's our Totalitarian Big Brother or our Capitalist Creepy Uncle

spying is spying