What do you predict technology will be like in 20 years?

My prediction is China on Mars by 2040. The American space program is a joke, they don't have a space program any more. From an engineering point of view, there is no reason we could not have had a manned mission to Mars 30 years ago.

That was the original plan, when Armstrong was taking his steps on the moon, the boys at NASA were thinking right Mars by 1981 we can do it. Then Nixon shut down the space program and it's just never recovered since. The technology needed to go to Mars is not fundamentally all that more advanced than a moon mission.

You need a habitation module, a couple of rovers, and a heavy lift booster. That's all. The most complicated thing there is the booster and we were building and flying them in the 60's.

The Saturn V was a heavy lift booster, that rocket could have flown a Mars mission if you wanted it had the power. 140 tonnes to low Earth orbit, more than you need. President Bush said in 2004 that he wanted humans back on the moon by 2018, moon base by 2024 then a Mars mission by 2030 but we (I say we I work in the industry) knew that was complete nonsense.

Why is it taking them 14 years to go back to the moon when it took them 8 years first time round? It should have been humans to Mars by 2014, 10 years is the longest a program can survive before political whims will kill it. 30 year programs do not work.

And we were right Obama cancelled the program this year, and hasn't replaced it with anything. So now America has ZERO manned flight capability. The Chinese are currently locked in a bit of a space race with India, and unlike the Americans the Chinese have patience, they could pull off a 30 year program.

The Americans could do it in 10 they have the technology, China is having to build it from scratch hence the long time line, but I think they will do it.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.