Should the US/International Community continue to explore space ?
- Thread starter Lang901
- Start date
Whatever people think is the truth about what we are doing to the planet, one thing cannot be denied. Earth's resources are finite.
Sooner or later, we will face a choice between leaving it or severely changing our way of life.
I honestly see no legitimate reason why we spend so much on weapons technology to murder each other but next to nothing on the more humane and logical step of spreading out from this world. At the very least, mining of the moon could provide a great deal of resources.
One of our first steps needs to be researching the means to bring back the junk we currently have orbiting the planet, and/or use space as a means of removing dangerous materials such as nuclear waste.
Sooner or later, we will face a choice between leaving it or severely changing our way of life.
I honestly see no legitimate reason why we spend so much on weapons technology to murder each other but next to nothing on the more humane and logical step of spreading out from this world. At the very least, mining of the moon could provide a great deal of resources.
One of our first steps needs to be researching the means to bring back the junk we currently have orbiting the planet, and/or use space as a means of removing dangerous materials such as nuclear waste.
Well...a lot of stuff is still happening, it just doesn't make the headlines for various reasons.
Firstly, nobody really cares. A bunch of space probes en route to a bunch of planets/asteroids, but wont get there for ages? Not news.
Secondly, some of it is being done by the wrong country. China is mucking around with their space program, they are planning to send people to the moon at some point. Certain western media have deliberately failed to mention this for obvious reasons.
Mind you, now isn't the right time for it, there are currently more pressing issues for most places.
EDIT: Odd, the post below mine was visible before I posted this, and it says it was posted 7 minutes in teh future.
Firstly, nobody really cares. A bunch of space probes en route to a bunch of planets/asteroids, but wont get there for ages? Not news.
Secondly, some of it is being done by the wrong country. China is mucking around with their space program, they are planning to send people to the moon at some point. Certain western media have deliberately failed to mention this for obvious reasons.
Mind you, now isn't the right time for it, there are currently more pressing issues for most places.
EDIT: Odd, the post below mine was visible before I posted this, and it says it was posted 7 minutes in teh future.
Agreed, the whole universe is out there waiting for us, there's gotta be somethin' out there. Even if it's not a whole civilized culture, there has to be a market for extraterritorial pets.Daystar Clarion said:
I want a pet varren in my life time, damn it.
Haven't heard of the James Webb telescope? This is probably our best hope of finding "other earths" and if the project is expanded to include the giant sail for blocking glare, we could have actual pictures of planets in other solar systems.
I think everyone watches too much science fiction. I don't think in my lifetime or for many generations to come, or if ever we will be able to send people outside our solar system to other solar systems. Even if we can come up with a decent method of propulsion, there is all the other logistical things that go with it. Its great stuff to think about but I just can't see it happening mainly because of distances in space. Even our closet stars would take thousands of years to get to with current tech.
I think telescopes are really our only hope for discoveries, but they are expensive and even more expensive if anything goes wrong, which is always possible when working with such complex technology. If in my lifetime I could see a picture with the same detail of planets in our solar system, of a planet outside of our solar system (exoplanet), that would be as massive an achievement as it gets.
I agree with a guy above, if we stop investing in stuff to blow each other up, we may be able to make the big projects happen but thats very wishful thinking because wars have always happened and don't look like stopping anytime soon.
I think everyone watches too much science fiction. I don't think in my lifetime or for many generations to come, or if ever we will be able to send people outside our solar system to other solar systems. Even if we can come up with a decent method of propulsion, there is all the other logistical things that go with it. Its great stuff to think about but I just can't see it happening mainly because of distances in space. Even our closet stars would take thousands of years to get to with current tech.
I think telescopes are really our only hope for discoveries, but they are expensive and even more expensive if anything goes wrong, which is always possible when working with such complex technology. If in my lifetime I could see a picture with the same detail of planets in our solar system, of a planet outside of our solar system (exoplanet), that would be as massive an achievement as it gets.
I agree with a guy above, if we stop investing in stuff to blow each other up, we may be able to make the big projects happen but thats very wishful thinking because wars have always happened and don't look like stopping anytime soon.
I think sending man to Mars is pretty pointless. I mean don't get me wrong, it would be one awesome feat and something that publically would gain huge interest, but whats to be found there? Years of probes and rovers have pretty much shown its just a huge, barren wasteland. Unless we were planning on colonizing it somehow, I think its nothing more than just a symbolic (and very expensive) mission.Daystar Clarion said:
Well...like do we actually have to explore it now? As our tech gets better, hopefully it will become easier for us to explore space one day. So it wont be so horribly expensive. What do we get out of it now? Some new rocks. Why not wait until we know how to teleport ourselves to the mars or something?
We need to encourage private competition above all else, as this is going to massively drive down the cost of getting mass into space, which is currently our main obstacle to the stars. I'd go as far to say as we should be entirely cutting government space programs & just have cash prizes for achieving various efficiencies, like a manned shuttle flight costing under £1m, etc.
Yes it would but sending people as opposed to robots/rover style vehicles makes things ALOT more complicated than it already is. I guess what I am saying is that space exploration is probably best done by technology rather than always having to send actual people. Sending people really adds to the buzz but doesn't necessarily achieve more and like I said makes things much more complex. You also have to bring them back.MrPeanut said:
I agree with you though, I think our next probe/rover/whatever should go to Titan and explore its oceans. Even cellular life is life and this would blow open the possibilty that life is as common as stars and planets
Agreed. They really have to start thinking 'outside the box' or we really can't do much. Even the simplest of projects (and nothing is simple in space exploration) cost 100's of millions and there is never the guarantee it would work. Even though I love everything space, even I can see the point of view of throwing billions at something thats hard to see any real result is always going to be a hardsell to governments. "wealthy enthusiasts" are our best hope.Esotera said:
There was a guy who managed to send his iphone into subspace for about $700...I think that's insane, no government agency would be able to do that. Companies like SpaceX are gradually getting there through satellite launches. And I wouldn't be too surprised if Google decided to get in on the space race in the next few decades...they already fund a few competitions for it, and it seems like something they'd do.ThatPurpleGuy said:
In my personal opinion, hell yes. Even if there are no other forms of life within our range, intelligent or not, we have much to gain.
From being able to mine the vast quantities of available resources, to shifting dangerous industry off planet, to vastly increasing our chances of survival as a species by no longer having all of our eggs in one planet sized basket (and solving our overpopulation issues at the same time).
From being able to mine the vast quantities of available resources, to shifting dangerous industry off planet, to vastly increasing our chances of survival as a species by no longer having all of our eggs in one planet sized basket (and solving our overpopulation issues at the same time).
Wow, I haven't heard of that. I have heard of SpaceX though. Still these aren't private companies in the traditional sense, as in build something and turn profit. They just see the gaining of knowledge as the profit, even though financially they will never make a return. Thats why the corporate world never really gets involved in this stuff as they are too profit driven. The wealthy enthusiast style companies run it more like a very expensive hobby.Esotera said:
Another problem is people want visable results. While it is great that they have discovered exoplanets, we haven't actually seen them, we just know they are there. For anyone really interested in this stuff, that is huge but to anyone else its just 'meh' because there is no visable result. Interest in space probes has always been high because they can get clear pictures of what they are actually researching.
Simple answer? Yes. Slightly more detailed answer? Definitely yes.
If it wasn't for the space race 40-50 years ago, society today would not be as it is. Modern Medicine, technology, heck even the Internet can be attributed to the race for space so long ago. If we had continued the emphasis on space, even after the USSR fell, we possibly could have had flying cars and jet packs by now! Of course that's all silly thinking, but truthfully, we may have better understanding of the process of cancer to combat it better, we'd be able to understand and learn a lot more things. Who knows where technology would be if we kept doing space stuff other than probes and a meager ISS. Possibly start of a moon colony already, maybe we could have been to Mars. So much stuff yet because of *how expensive it is*, we can't. Wars are more expensive than space exploration right now. Both in monetary value and manpower.
If it wasn't for the space race 40-50 years ago, society today would not be as it is. Modern Medicine, technology, heck even the Internet can be attributed to the race for space so long ago. If we had continued the emphasis on space, even after the USSR fell, we possibly could have had flying cars and jet packs by now! Of course that's all silly thinking, but truthfully, we may have better understanding of the process of cancer to combat it better, we'd be able to understand and learn a lot more things. Who knows where technology would be if we kept doing space stuff other than probes and a meager ISS. Possibly start of a moon colony already, maybe we could have been to Mars. So much stuff yet because of *how expensive it is*, we can't. Wars are more expensive than space exploration right now. Both in monetary value and manpower.
Mars is very rich in certain minerals that could be used to kick start further exploration of the solar system. On top of that, the distances in space aren't really that prohibitive. There is no doubt that as we continue to miniaturize computers and find more and more efficient forms of energy (we've begun work on some of the first Nuclear Fusion plants out in Europe, that's a giant leap forward if we can get them to work) that at some point we will have the ability to build ships that can take us outside this solar system. I tend to think intergalactic travel is less likely, but assuming we survive to spread out among the milky-way, it will probably occur at some point, it's the natural evolution of technology.ThatPurpleGuy said:
So I have to disagree with your comment that you don't see it happening "if ever" because unless we destroy ourselves, it's the only logical step.
Well yeah, obviously. Even if you put aside the whole curiosity aspect and looked at it from the economic fuckhead business man douchbag perspective, there's a whole Universe worth of resources out there waiting to be waiting to be harvested for a nice return on investment. Plus colonization = real estate.