Poll: What do you think of space exploration?

[Da Orky Man]

What should we do concerning funds spent on space programs?
I personally think we should increase funds, if only a small bit. When we started, no-one thought we could keep satellites up there, and look at how much we use them now. Space exploration helps us all, even in ways we don't realise. There were even plans to build a 1.5 terrawatt solar station in orbit. That's 3.4% of the power consumption of the USA.
What do YOU think?

 

[Wierdguy]

Space holds infinite oportunities aswell as potential to solve resource crisises and enviromental problems (move factories to the moon!) ect - All that is waaaaaaay in the future sure - but we defenetly should invest a lot more!

 

[Loop Stricken]

Invest more. Far more!

Then paint them red 'cos RED WUNZ GO FASTA!

 

[Zipa]

Invest more. Far more!

Then paint them red 'cos RED WUNZ GO FASTA!

Orks Ftw.

On topic: Invest more, the future and survival of our species will one day depend on our ability to get off this planet and move to another, we already know that planets exist that are habitable so its just a matter of getting there.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/110139-First-Habitable-Planet-Confirmed-by-French-Scientists

 

[Not-here-anymore]

Invest more. A little bit more, at least.

Space! Space! I wanna go to space!
SPAAAAAAAAAACE!

 

[Soviet Steve]

All problems facing the human race would be solved if we could manage to exploit the infinite resources available in space and do terraforming or find just one or two planets similar enough to our own. I think solving all problems in the entire world is a worthwhile pursuit. Not saying we should invest all of our money into it - We still have to keep things running for the people who are here now, but for future generations it will be their salvation.

 

[Scabadus]

I definitely think that space exploration and research is an important thing to look at - off-world colonies solving over populaitons, mineral retrieval from planets and asteroids for reseources, etc - but the hard truth is that it's incredible expensive and most of it is astoundingly dull. For every first step on the moon or first self sufficiant colony build there are countless man-hours of maths, manufactoring, tedious and repetitive experiments, scientific dead ends and total failures. All of which must be not only done by some poor person, but also paid for.

What I'm trying to say is that we shouldn't forget about it and govornments should keep it on the table in budget meetings, but giving the huge time and money sink before any form of return (at least in the terms of program goals; not smaller advances like that list of consumer products that exist thanks to NASA research) it shouldn't be a top priority.

 

[Soviet Steve]

Thats completely false. Not even half of the problems facing humanity can be accounted to a lack of resources. Obviously it is a big problem at the moment but humanity has much bigger problems that span over large periods of time. A race that knowingly lets people starve to death to provide a fuel that holds no benefit over previous ones is not ready to properly use other resources, no matter if they are found in space or on earth. The largest problem humanity has ever faced is more apparent nowadays than it ever was; out own greed.

Actually greed is the primary motivator that has led to our developing civilization. It's also what keeps it from falling apart now that we are armed with nuclear weapons.

But perhaps you're right. Perhaps greed is why we live in the shadow of far more advanced races like mice or badgers.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Forget space being some magical cure-all for all humanity's ills, that it'll be economical to ship even small groups of people permanently off-world or anything like that.

But just cause there's nothing exciting and glamorous to play with doesn't mean you stop. It's something of a truism of research that you don't know what you'll discover until you discover it. Communication satellites, for example, aren't sexy, but have been massively important in our ordinary lives.

 

[MetroidNut]

Space exploration has provided humanity with a wide variety of short term benefits - NASA developed smoke detectors for Skylab, and (at least according to NASA's website) most prosthetic limbs are created from molds based off the foam used for the Space Shuttle's external fuel tank. Basically, the technology developed to put us into space ends up helping everybody.

And furthermore, space exploration could provide us with much more in the long term. Earth's moon? It's covered in an isotope of helium that could potentially fuel nuclear fusion reactors. Then, of course, you get to the possibility of colonizing the solar system, providing us with a solution to overpopulation issues that will likely exist by then and giving humanity a backup plan in the event Earth goes to hell.

As such, my view on space travel is that we should pour all the money we can into it; it'll pay off, sooner than we may realize.

 

[5mj7R7yf4Dwr3gdZyyu9PeGNwYjlNrjzuh3iTXQG]

But perhaps you're right. Perhaps greed is why we live in the shadow of far more advanced races like mice or badgers.

Actually, there are more mice by weight than there are humans. Same as ants. And we have difficulties controlling the populations of either.

So, technically, they're winning.

But the Apollo moon shots returned to us ten cents on the penny, adjusted for inflation. Motivated yet to reach for the stars?

238U.

 

[Michael K]

Eventually, we are going have to go into space. There are plenty of movies, books, games, ideas and other things that have all the bases covered. You can go see Aliens, Star Wars, Star Trek, Firefly and Riddick to see what our future looks like.

Now, I am hoping that it will be rather like Star Trek (with universal "peace" and understanding and that whole pursuit of personal wealth becoming a pursuit of better intellectual understanding of the universe), but knowing the human race, it will be more like Firefly or Star Wars (where one faction holds the powers and grinds the guy/girl who just wants to live comfortably into the dirt). We humans love our conflicts.

Back when JFK said those immortal words, there was a race going to beat the other guys (I'm not gonna name them but you know who I mean). That's the whole reason we eventually got to the moon. Not because we wanted to go there, but because one faction wanted to go there before the other one.

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for the exploration and exploitation of space (hoping we can learn from our previous mistakes). I'm all for of having giant solar panels in space collection all the energy we'll ever need. If it was possible to permanently live in space, I'd be one of the first to sign up. And if we ever get to see aliens, let's remember what happened when some dude decided to sail west and discover a new world. Or if that's too vague for you go watch Avatar. Or Planet 51.

There are only 2 (maybe 3) countries who in my mind have both the cash and the minds available to pull it off effectively.

But with the state of the economy as it is today, projects like fundamental research and cash-guzzlers like space exploration won't get to see the light of day.

Still, I can't wait to board my spaceship and go all Elite (No? don't get it? How about Freelancer? ... Fine ...) or Firefly all over the universe out there.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

The moon may hold some benefit to us, (the possibility of it being rich in Helium)and satellites are certainly crucial to our way of life today, but all this talk of terra forming worlds and mining resources of Planet Vogsphere, I think you all have been watching too much Firefly. The distance between the earth and the moon is larger than you think: It's 250,000 km And the distance between earth and Mars, our nearest, completely uninhabitable and virtually useless planet? 36 million km MINIMUM To get to the nearest habitable planet is such a ridiculous length that it would take hundreds or thousands of years travelling at light speed, a speed that is completely theoretical and impossible for us to go, and our technology is nowhere near achieving interstellar travel, and it may just be completely infeasible or impossible.

I think we should invest our money into finding solutions for our problems here on earth first. The energy crisis is a good example, research more into Nuclear fission, hydrogen fuel cells, burning Al Gore's ego, etc. We don't need to go to Stavromula Beta to solve all our problems.

 

[Cipher1]

Ok quick question but whats stopping NASA/Russian Federal Space Agency from going to the moon again both proved they had the technology to do so in 1965 with the Saturn V and the N1 rocket(yes it blow up but it was underfunded undertested and rushed) so besides cost whats stopping them now a days?

 

[Continuity]

Its way to early to make any big investments in space, space is stupidly expensive in every aspect, incredibly environmentally unfriendly and for the most part has dubious returns (bar satellites).

Sure in the distant future when we have an eco friendly method of getting hardware and people into space, it will be worth investing more in.

Not yet though, much bigger concerns down here on the planet to work on first.

In short, you guys watch way too much sci-fi - that shit aint real you know.

 

[Lacsapix]

In short, you guys watch way too much sci-fi - that shit aint real you know.

its goning to be very hard to explain this without sounding like an idiot..
but...
nothing is impossible, mankind broke so many laws-of-physics that I think that laws-of-physics are more like guidlines then accual rules(!).

with that in mind the stars get closer.

we aren't getting anywhere with lines like "that is impossible" and "that ain't real". we should open our minds and banish that nasty word "impossible".

also being environmentally unfriendly is not a good excuse.
all the cows in the Netherlands fart ten times as much greenhouse gasses A DAY then one single shuttle launch.

 

[SilentCom]

I voted to invest more but before that could happen, we need to fix our current economic problems, otherwise it's not going to happen.