Should Space Exploration Continue?

SloanerF1

The Columbia disaster has caused us to re-examine the value of the space programme. Does it cost too much? Is the scientific knowledge gained valuable? Is it too dangerous? All of these are questions requiring answers.

Woden

yes, yes it should

woolymammoth

the answer to all these questions is yes, yes and(wait for it) yes!
it does cost too much... but if that was a problem, the US government would've shut down NASA years ago. the scientific knowledge is very valuable, admittedly only to scientists, but will benifit everybody in the long term. and space travel is most definitely dangerous. but these scientists and pilots sign up for the job knowing this. they train for it knowing that when its their turn to blast off, they could die. but they do it anyway.
thats why space exploration should continue. because if we stop now, it will have been a complete waste of money, time, effort and life for ever doing it in the first place. the future of the human race involves space travel, it would be stupid to stop now after everything we've learned.

Woden

i don't think you can use the money arguement, as by what your saying you could be throwing bad money after bad money and not knowing where to cut your loses.

Rolo Tomasi

Yeah of course it will continue, maybe manned space exploration will slow down in the short term,(knee jerk reaction to the Columbia incident) but unmanned exploration will defintely continue. Its in our nature to explore, I dont see how we could just stop.

Washout

Human Quest for knowledge and exporation will always compel us to explore the depths of space and try to explore further and further.

I dont see why it shouldnt continue....After all if a plane in the sky crashes down do we automatically re-examine the value of commercial aviation?

Wook

i would even try to go further.. it's time we starting thinking about off-world settlements.
This planet is getting seriously overcrowded and if 'humanity' only has ONE planet..what the heck are we going to do when it's finished, over and done with, gone, lost ?

and i for one, would go almost 'trekkie' and say that projects like these should be funded and organized by humanity rather then a single country.

seamus

Well, as all the news companies say, the Astronauts tend to make it look routine, but it's highly dangerous. There are literally million of variables, every second during launch and re-entry, that it's quite incredible that anyone makes it back alive tbh.

IMO, there's a lot of things to be learnt in space that can bring humanity forward (technologically).

The Reaper

fúckin sure

Wook

what did this actor say again in the movie 'armageddon'
'how does it feel to sit on top of a rocket with 300.000 moving parts and build by the cheapest bidder?'

azezil

Our very survival is dependant on us being one day capable of leaving our planet. Our resources and landspace are limited its inevitable that we must leave or die out.

SloanerF1

Originally posted by azezil
Our very survival is dependant on us being one day capable of leaving our planet. Our resources and landspace are limited its inevitable that we must leave or die out.

Are we all sure that this will happen? I think it will be at least 300 years before we will be able to leave this planet and set up home somewhere else.

azezil

yes of course i do!

ok jump foward several billion years

Our sun is only in its early stages of development, it continues to grow, in time the heat generated from our sun with be so great that life will become intolerable on earth

even further down the road our sun will go nova


Ok these examples are far far away but i still believe space travel should continue to be developed.

SloanerF1

Originally posted by azezil
Ok these examples are far far away but i still believe space travel should continue to be developed.

So do I, but no matter how much it is developed, I'm still not convinced that space travel will enable us to live on another planet.

azezil

But its not just 'space travel' that is to being developed, the possible benifits out weight the cost. Hydropoics for example - growing plants without the need for soil. Terriforming, many theories exist and warrent further reasearch and development.

Jak

Several billion years?

Frankly I would be amazed if we make it to the next millenia.

And if we do - there are several billion other budgets not in my lifetime which can pay for it.

JAK.

superconor

technological advancement is a good point to consider but when something like $90 billion is spent on each project, think of the millions of starving people in this world

bonkey

Originally posted by superconor
technological advancement is a good point to consider but when something like $90 billion is spent on each project, think of the millions of starving people in this world

Dead right.

Unfortunately, the same logic could be used (for example) about the ridiculous amount of money spent on things like military expenditure....or the entertainment industry.

Given a choice....limit all sports & entertainment people to a maximum salary of $100,000, or limit research into space technology which has already brought (and will continue to bring) many benefits to mamkind.

Hmmm....I dont see why the space program is a preferable option to scrap there. It, at least, brings some appreciable benefits for the money it has cost. Given a choice of being told how much money the likes of Tom Cruise gets for their new movie, or how much money Man U's latest acquisition has cost them, and feeding millions of people, I know which I would classify as a better use of money. Given the choice of some practical space-research and a new big budget movie with a big name....I know which I'd pick, and it wouldnt be Tom's smiley face.

You can find many other examples. The simple fact is that we dont spend this money helping the starving because we dont want to. We could find it if we wanted, but we dont really care enough as a people.

So I would not just pick on space research as a cure to all these things, because its a fairly hollow argument to me.

jc

Tails

I dont think the USA's government can use the idea of its too dangerous to scrap it, Going to war is obviously much more dangerous but their still dead keen on doing that.

TenLeftFingers

The sooner we find intelligent life out there, the sooner I can go home.