Poll: Space Pioneering - Would You?

[The Long Road]

Now, for many of us, the very fact that the question is being asked is absurd. Of course we want to be space pioneers. Exploring uncharted space? Stepping foot on new worlds? Boldly going where no man has gone before? That's the kind of stuff childhood dreams are made of!

But there are many, MANY drawbacks to that life. Even if interstellar transport becomes viable and takes less than a human lifespan to complete a journey, you're still in close quarters with the same people for years on end. You'll be completely separated from human culture. If you return, you'll find an Earth vastly different than when you left. The country/organization that sent you may not even exist anymore, and family and friends have either forgotten about you or died. There's a very real chance that the unforgiving nature of space will simply decide that you've been fucking around in its domain for too long and run your ass over with an asteroid or direct you to a planet inhabited exclusively by virulent microbes. Basically, combine the hardships of the Age of Exploration with the Space Race and drag it out over two or three decades.

Given those potential deal-breakers, would you explore the stars?

 

[genericusername64]

I wouldn't go beyond our solar system because thats how borderlands started.

 

[Kae]

Yes I would, because I've always dreamed of going to space and my life here is pretty unremarkable, so even if it's hard up there at least it will be far more interesting.

 

[evilneko]

Nope! Star Trek, Babylon 5, and many other shows have proven conclusively that the early adopters of space colonization will get royally screwed! You guys go ahead--I'll wait for the next one.

 

[Sir Rammington Steel]

I don't think that I could do it. I enjoy my life too much to simply ditch everything behind and travel the stars. I'm just not the explorer type. Perhaps I'll change my mind later in life, but as of now the idea of being a space pioneer isn't very appealing to me.

 

[zehydra]

" You'll be completely separated from human culture."

oh darn. Popular culture tends to suck anyway.

although if we create a "culture" on our spacecraft, wouldn't that make your claim incorrect?

I'll still be living amongst humans, so it's not like I'm seperated from humanity, just from where most of us are.

 

[zehydra]

Also, by the time space travel becomes standard, safe and regulated, I'll be dead.

Might as well go when I can.

 

[RagTagBand]

No question, No hesitation, I would go in a heartbeat.

 

[DeadlyYellow]

Pfft. Operable space travel and colonization would first require a unified governing body, something no human civilization will be able to establish without the aid of an external contact.

 

[The Long Road]

" You'll be completely separated from human culture."

oh darn. Popular culture tends to suck anyway.

although if we create a "culture" on our spacecraft, wouldn't that make your claim incorrect?

I'll still be living amongst humans, so it's not like I'm seperated from humanity, just from where most of us are.

By 'human culture' I mean popular human culture, the kind of evolving structure that we live in every day. If we sent a group up in the 70s and they returned not, they'd be aghast at the lack of sequins and bell-bottoms.

 

[IrradiatedFish]

I think I could see myself potentially participating in something like this. However, yeah, I can definitely see there being huge risks and lots of danger involved. Sooo many things could go wrong. On the other hand, risk makes life interesting, and I'm not doing too much here on earth. Maybe doing something 'out of this world' would be a good change of pace.

... Oh wait, you just got me excited to volunteer for something I can't actually volunteer for ...

 

[Kjakings]

Kind sir, you appear to have forgotten the option "FUCK YEAH, SEAKING!"

 

[Palfreyfish]

Yes. I love space. I read too much Science Fiction not to. I love the idea of travelling around space, searching for life or a habitable planet.

I wouldn't mind the cabin fever really, I'm too nice...

 

[Hoplon]

In a heart beat. though I would need a larger media collection...

 

[kickyourass]

I probably would, I've got almost nothing better to do. Sure being more or less completely separated from humanity for months, if not years at a time would kind of suck at first, but I think learning how to fly a space ship and being one of the first humans to ever leave the solar system would be well worth the potential draw backs.

 

[silver wolf009]

Hmmmm... At first I thought I'd go without a heartbeat, but then I realized I wouldn't be able to talk to any of my friends here. I doubt we'd have internet access out there. Maybe if I got my friends from this site to come, then I'd go.

 

[zehydra]

" You'll be completely separated from human culture."

oh darn. Popular culture tends to suck anyway.

although if we create a "culture" on our spacecraft, wouldn't that make your claim incorrect?

I'll still be living amongst humans, so it's not like I'm seperated from humanity, just from where most of us are.

By 'human culture' I mean popular human culture, the kind of evolving structure that we live in every day. If we sent a group up in the 70s and they returned not, they'd be aghast at the lack of sequins and bell-bottoms.

maybe. There were also a lot of people in the 70s that didn't buy into the whole bell bottoms thing, and there were plenty of people wearing bell bottoms well into the 80s.

 

[varulfic]

All the downsides will seem insignificant once I make contact with intelligent alien lifeforms. And have sex with them.

 

[Da Orky Man]

Can I safely presume that I'll be in the company of at least another dozen humans or so? If yes, the HELLS YEAH! Sign me up, I don't care where I'm going. Be it to the Moon, Martian base or Alpha Centauri. A truly tremendous entertainment collection would be nice, as well as a chess set though.
And the odd thing is, I probably wouldn't miss anyone. Really, I have an odd habit of simply never missing anyone. Ever.

 

[ryderawsome]

i would go out there. dont get me wrong i dont have any particular urge to die but for space exploration id risk it no question. some things are just worth it.