Cost of space missions?

mr_goo
mr_goo Posts: 3,770
edited September 2012 in The cake stop
My son is always coming up with some nuggets of info on physics and space.

The latest is that it cost £250m more to make the film Avatar than the cost of sending up the latest NASA Curiosity mission to Mars. Therefore we as a human race we spent £250m more on simulation and entertainment about landing on another planet than actually spending towards visiting another planet. Work that one out.
Always be yourself, unless you can be Aaron Rodgers....Then always be Aaron Rodgers.

Comments

  • baldwin471
    baldwin471 Posts: 366
    That is wrong, frankly. Avatar cost $237M in production and around $9m in re-release, whereas the Mars Curiosity Rover and it's entrails cost around $2.6B. Big big difference.
  • craprider
    craprider Posts: 111
    Also the film is a commercial enterprise, expected to make money so investors jump on board.

    does he mean avatar grossed more than the exploration cost?
    "With a worldwide box-office gross of about $2.8 billion, Avatar is often proclaimed to be the "highest-grossing" film"
  • mr_goo
    mr_goo Posts: 3,770
    My son probably quite literally took some info off the web. But being a young teenager is unlikely to check the voracity of such claims.
    Baldwin - Probably he saw the difference between the Gross earnings of Avatar and the cost of the mission.
    Always be yourself, unless you can be Aaron Rodgers....Then always be Aaron Rodgers.
  • baldwin471
    baldwin471 Posts: 366
    Mr Goo wrote:
    My son probably quite literally took some info off the web. But being a young teenager is unlikely to check the voracity of such claims.
    Baldwin - Probably he saw the difference between the Gross earnings of Avatar and the cost of the mission.

    Yeah i assumed that would be the case.
  • Akirasho
    Akirasho Posts: 1,892
    ... bottom line... as a species, we can't stay here indefinitely....
  • daviesee
    daviesee Posts: 6,386
    Akirasho wrote:
    ... bottom line... as a species, we can't stay here indefinitely....
    We could but we won't as we know it.
    All we have to do is stop the population expanding, pollution and raping the planets natural resources without planning for renewal. Simple but won't happen.
    None of the above should be taken seriously, and certainly not personally.
  • Akirasho
    Akirasho Posts: 1,892
    daviesee wrote:
    Akirasho wrote:
    ... bottom line... as a species, we can't stay here indefinitely....
    We could but we won't as we know it.
    All we have to do is stop the population expanding, pollution and raping the planets natural resources without planning for renewal. Simple but won't happen.


    ... I was thinking more longterm, when Sol becomes a red giant and all the inner planets are vaporized... :mrgreen:
  • baldwin471
    baldwin471 Posts: 366
    Akirasho wrote:
    daviesee wrote:
    Akirasho wrote:
    ... bottom line... as a species, we can't stay here indefinitely....
    We could but we won't as we know it.
    All we have to do is stop the population expanding, pollution and raping the planets natural resources without planning for renewal. Simple but won't happen.


    ... I was thinking more longterm, when Sol becomes a red giant and all the inner planets are vaporized... :mrgreen:

    About 5 billion years from now :wink:
  • Alain Quay
    Alain Quay Posts: 534
    Yes but will Wiggle deliver by 9 am next day?
  • daviesee
    daviesee Posts: 6,386
    Akirasho wrote:
    daviesee wrote:
    Akirasho wrote:
    ... bottom line... as a species, we can't stay here indefinitely....
    We could but we won't as we know it.
    All we have to do is stop the population expanding, pollution and raping the planets natural resources without planning for renewal. Simple but won't happen.


    ... I was thinking more longterm, when Sol becomes a red giant and all the inner planets are vaporized... :mrgreen:
    Nothing for me to worry about then. :wink:
    We're doomed. Doomed I tell you....
    None of the above should be taken seriously, and certainly not personally.
  • kieranb
    kieranb Posts: 1,674
    Akirasho wrote:
    daviesee wrote:
    Akirasho wrote:
    ... bottom line... as a species, we can't stay here indefinitely....
    We could but we won't as we know it.
    All we have to do is stop the population expanding, pollution and raping the planets natural resources without planning for renewal. Simple but won't happen.


    ... I was thinking more longterm, when Sol becomes a red giant and all the inner planets are vaporized... :mrgreen:

    but by then we'll have evolved into beings of pure energy and survive it! or maybe end up like the ones in Dancers at the End of Time by Michael Moorcock.
  • Phil_D
    Phil_D Posts: 467
    Mr Goo wrote:
    My son probably quite literally took some info off the web. But being a young teenager is unlikely to check the voracity of such claims.
    Baldwin - Probably he saw the difference between the Gross earnings of Avatar and the cost of the mission.

    Whereas you took some info off a young teenager and posted it on the web without checking the claim's voracity
  • Akirasho
    Akirasho Posts: 1,892
    kieranb wrote:
    Akirasho wrote:
    daviesee wrote:
    Akirasho wrote:
    ... bottom line... as a species, we can't stay here indefinitely....
    We could but we won't as we know it.
    All we have to do is stop the population expanding, pollution and raping the planets natural resources without planning for renewal. Simple but won't happen.


    ... I was thinking more longterm, when Sol becomes a red giant and all the inner planets are vaporized... :mrgreen:

    but by then we'll have evolved into beings of pure energy and survive it! or maybe end up like the ones in Dancers at the End of Time by Michael Moorcock.


    ... I think you're giving the species waaaaaaay too much credit... evolution stopped with the invention of the iPhone...
  • Daz555
    Daz555 Posts: 3,976
    If the dinosaurs had a space program they would not be extinct.
    You only need two tools: WD40 and Duck Tape.
    If it doesn't move and should, use the WD40.
    If it shouldn't move and does, use the tape.
  • craker
    craker Posts: 1,739
    Daz555 wrote:
    If the dinosaurs had a space program they would not be extinct.

    Also true of slugs. Oh, hang on...
  • awavey
    awavey Posts: 2,368
    baldwin471 wrote:
    That is wrong, frankly. Avatar cost $237M in production and around $9m in re-release, whereas the Mars Curiosity Rover and it's entrails cost around $2.6B. Big big difference.

    well hold on the Mars Curiosity cost is the total cost of the mission from its inception, build, launch,flight,operation,landing and at least the next 2 years worth of science and ground support, thats about 8 years worth . it works out to about 327million dollars a year. and these missions have a habit of extending for many years longer

    Avatar might have cost 237million dollars to produce,actually some estimates put it nearer the 300million, but would have cost about 150million dollars to market, so on a yearly cost its actually more expensive than curiosity, on a total cost its cheaper, just because Cameron hasnt made 7 sequels yet.

    as it happens they did work out the cost of curiosity was less per US citizen, than the average cinema ticket.

    and if you want to know where all the money in the world really goes, in America alone they spent 50billion dollars just on pets. :shock:
  • finchy
    finchy Posts: 6,686
    Daz555 wrote:
    If the dinosaurs had a space program they would not be extinct.

    The dinosaurs did have a space programme. An ark left Earth just before the asteroid hit. They now look like this.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxQqJbW- ... ure=relmfu

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