Thread: The final frontier

1) Because we'd be a bunch of lazy bastards if we just looked around this dumpy little rock.

2) For. I think our purpose is to seek out truth and new ways of life. If we can look at something different because of something we find on another planet, I think we're better off. Besides, when the earth turns into a big fireball, it'll be nice to have a home on the moon.

3) It provides us with understanding of how certain things happen here on our planet. It also gives us an idea of how things were created/destroyed and even lends itself to future advancement.

4) I have no idea. Why do we have to achieve anything? Isn't learning fun?

Originally posted by ober5861
4) I have no idea. Why do we have to achieve anything? Isn't learning fun?

It is more fun to eat and have health insurance.

It is more fun to eat and have health insurance.

If you are insenuating what I think you are, this is a very assinine statement.

I'm glad to see that our space program is finally looking beyond just launching crap to orbit our own planet. It looks as though they are testing a new ion based engine for the Jupiter project which is very cool - the move away from chemical rockets will be the start of a new era of speed and space exploration.

Originally posted by Govtcheez
Know a lot of people who got their meal tickets taken away by those heartless bastards at NASA?

There are a lot of programs that could be cut before NASA.

Yes there are. I was simply pointing out that the country should be more focused on creating a national health care system and feeding all of its citizens than sending a man to mars.

Originally posted by golfinguy4
Yes there are. I was simply pointing out that the country should be more focused on creating a national health care system and feeding all of its citizens than sending a man to mars.

This is the point raised by many people, how do we justify spending TRILLIONS on space exploration while people world wide starve to death. Take Russia for example, they have operated successfully in space for decades and continue to do so till this day even though something as simple as a loaf of bread isn't exactly easy to obtain on their own streets.

Personally, I can see both sides of the argument. I think space exploration is necessary because we need to discover alternative resources that could lead to new technologies to sustain our way of life here on Earth, and quite possibly beyond. At our present rates of consumption the Earth will eventually become a very different place and most of us will live to feel some of this impact. It's simply hard to justify these expenditures to the common person on the street who will never see Mars, but walks past that same guy eating out of the trash everyday.

Thoughts?

Btw, I've gotten well over 300 responses from across the Internet. I appreciate any on topic comments. I'll link my paper after it's published.

Post this on the straight dope forums. It's a big philosophical community and you'll get a ton of opinions there.

The moon would probably only be used as a testing ground and a base to launch from. It is the closest place where non-Earth apparatus can be tested in a non-Earth environment.

>>It's really boring watching those space shuttle liftoffs on TV.

Have you ever seen one in person? It's really something to see, I highly recommend it to anyone that gets the opportunity to go.

But yeah, your right, NASA people aren't exactly the most entertaining individuals on television. After I finish my masters and get a job there that's the first thing I'm going to bring up