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DeadFyre t1_ixem18q wrote

Reply to comment by lagavulinski in Bruno Le Maire: Europe needs ‘unwavering unity’ against China, US in space by Soupjoe5

No, you can't. Whiners on the internet pay for the privilege of going onto the internet with their own money. They pay their ISP, and the platforms that cater to their whining earn money from sponsors, all without anyone being coerced into paying someone else.

If you want to DONATE to a space exploration plan, or volunteer time, I salute you. Enjoy it! Live your best life. But I would just assume not fund a manned mission to the Moon or Mars when there is no practical benefit to any human, save the small slice of contractors and government employees who will be paid money out of my taxes to do the damned thing.

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bookers555 t1_ixeqeo6 wrote

I have no idea why people so ignorant on the technologies that space travel research has brought us even come to the space subreddit. Seems like this sub has way too many people for whom science is just knowing "fun facts".

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GameTourist t1_ixeuieo wrote

exactly that, and it also completely ignores the economic stimulus it generates

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DeadFyre t1_ixftkrq wrote

I'm perfectly aware of what technologies were pioneered in the Space Race. That was 60 years ago, and there's no reason to believe any of those technologies required a lunar mission to achieve. But that's not my principal objection. You want to fund scientific research, I am with you. You want to fund research into the physics necessary to unlock energy sources that can get us to an adjacent solar system, I am on board.

What we're doing is none of those things. We're re-using 1960's technology to go back to a place we've already been, and thence re-using 1960's technology to visit another planet in the solar system, and plant a flag and a plaque. That's IT. There's no payoff, no other objective, no practical payoff for the billions in taxpayer dollars and millions of tons of CO2 we'll be producing to carry of what can only be a P.R. stunt.

We don't have the technology to terraform Mars, or to even build a permanent settlement there. You want to colonize the solar system? Start by creating a self-sufficient settlement in Antarctica. Because that's about a hundred times more feasible than Mars. Prove you can do that, and then we'll talk.

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lagavulinski t1_ixeu1eh wrote

>But I would just assume not fund a manned mission to the Moon or Mars when there is no practical benefit to any human, save the small slice of contractors and government employees who will be paid money out of my taxes to do the damned thing.

Amazing. You're in the Space subreddit, and you think that all of our exploration has no practical benefit? I'm sure Krog the caveman said the exact same thing 10,000 years ago when his buddy Glab started building the first raft/boat for fishing in the river and getting to the other side.

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DeadFyre t1_ixfsxn2 wrote

At present level of technology, it's certain to have no practical benefit. There is no habitable planet within the reach of our current propulation technology, nor within the THEORETICAL limits of any technology we have postulated. It's just not feasible. So, all that is left is an expensive P.R. stunt. If you'd take a second to research the matter yourself and use a little objectivity, you'd agree with me.

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lagavulinski t1_ixfy2wd wrote

Again, I'm amazed that you're on the space subreddit. Habitable planets? Is that the only purpose for innovating in any form of space age technology? It is most definitely an epic failure of imagination to assume (as you said, "all that is left") that space has no other practical purpose or benefit. I'm not even going to start listing them. If you don't have an idea what they could be, it won't even make sense to you.

I run a design and engineering firm, I am an investor, and sit on an incubator board to provide funding to new medtech startups. I've bet on many, many companies over the years, and only a few make it, but I've learned two things in the last 35 years. One: Failure and improvement can lead to riches, and Two: I've always failed to predict where tech goes, but it has always been better than what I anticipated.

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