Time To Stop The Obsession With Space Travel?

[Albert the Cat 0]

On 20/09/2019 at 13:33, lil-minx92 said:

Given the issues of climate change which appears to be becoming an emergency, is it time for all countries to put space exploration on hold and ban the development of space tourism? It seems a little extravagant and a total waste of our earths resources.  

Also, how about ban business class air travel & just fit as many seats on a plane as is safe?

The space programme should definitely not be banned.  The ungodly advances in science, engineering and medicine due to the space programmes is phenomenal.  The anti-intellectual rhetoric you display is very short-sighted.  Any programme  that advances our current understanding in science, engineering or medicine should be allowed to progress.

 

Using your line of logic, why stop with the space programme?  Why not scrap ITER?  That programme has been going on for years and costing billions.  There is no guarantee that it will work either.

 

[lil-minx92 10]

On 20/09/2019 at 20:45, muddycoffee said:

Exactly correct. The average journalist and person on the Clapham omnibus has no concept of the vastness of space. Our species will be extinct long before we can work out how to successfully travel a distance as big as that without dying.

Buck Rogers and Star Treck is never going to be reality. This planet "Earth" is where the entirety of the story of Homo Sapiens is going to be acted out. From emergence to extinction. We will be very lucky if humans finish up existing one tenth of the duration of the dinosaurs. Most species are but a blink of an eye to this planet.

Well put. Which is why I think wasting time and effort and resources on space travel/tourism benefits nobody but those employed by it or making money from it.

[apelike 10]

On 20/09/2019 at 20:37, muddycoffee said:

Essentially if everyone can choose to have children, then evolution has stopped.

No that's not correct. Not everyone chooses to have children and many births are accidents and are unplanned. Evolution is still going on and at a more accelerated rate as the population increases and now can be seen in our genes through modern DNA sequencing.

 

On 20/09/2019 at 20:15, Jim Hardie said:

And a mere 20 light years away. When we can travel at the speed of light, a one way ticket might be affordable. Bring your own food.

We may not have to travel at the speed of light. Ever heard of the Einstein-Rosen bridge (wormhole) theory .

Edited September 23, 2019 by apelike

[Obelix 11]

45 minutes ago, lil-minx92 said:

Well put. Which is why I think wasting time and effort and resources on space travel/tourism benefits nobody but those employed by it or making money from it.

You might want to try listing what the space program has given us and then decide if you would think scrapping all that would be a good idea....

[Jim Hardie 527]

7 hours ago, apelike said:

We may not have to travel at the speed of light. Ever heard of the Einstein-Rosen bridge (wormhole) theory .

Yes, I've heard of it but don't believe it. According to the theory, how far would we have to travel to a planet that's normally 20 light years away by taking the shortcut? Don't tell me, it's right next door.

Edited September 23, 2019 by Jim Hardie

[woolyhead 15]

What about cryogenic sleep on the journey? Is awakening safely from that possible yet?

[apelike 10]

2 hours ago, woolyhead said:

What about cryogenic sleep on the journey? Is awakening safely from that possible yet?

No as it does not work. 

[Guest]

On 23/09/2019 at 12:17, lil-minx92 said:

Well put. Which is why I think wasting time and effort and resources on space travel/tourism benefits nobody but those employed by it or making money from it.

You may want to do some research about what it has given us before making such bold, ill-informed statements.

 

Living on a planet with finite resources and an ever-expanding population, sure let's not try and explore other planets with those resources, let's follow your views and instead allow the human race to die out due to over-population, starvation and exhaustion of the planet's resources.

[Phanerothyme 12]

On 21/09/2019 at 11:08, tinfoilhat said:

We are going to run out of helium at some point. If memory serves, we can’t get hold of any more in the planet, it’s finite. Nearest source? The moon.

It's not high on the priorities list, and there is plenty left in the ground. Until now, it's never been profitable enough to survey and drill for it explicitly, as plenty bubbles up as a by-product of the petrochemical industry. USA deflated the price for a long time (see what I did there) by selling off its reserves, so price adjustment is in the offing.

[Earthling 0]

The great and the good need somewhere to escape to if a meteor is on a collision course with earth.

[Albert the Cat 0]

On 23/09/2019 at 12:17, lil-minx92 said:

Well put. Which is why I think wasting time and effort and resources on space travel/tourism benefits nobody but those employed by it or making money from it.

So if you ever need a CAT scan, you'll refuse on principle because it came from the space programme?

[muddycoffee 10]

On ‎06‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 18:58, Albert the Cat said:

So if you ever need a CAT scan, you'll refuse on principle because it came from the space programme?

They don't do CAT scans any longer. It is CT scans now, which are slightly more advanced.