Space Exploration - Good or Bad?

[PaleBlueDot]

As a Carl Sagan fan who has watched COSMOS more times than he can count, and who has read a lot of Sagan's other work, including (ahem) "Pale Blue Dot", I wanted to test the DU waters and see what people are thinking. Sagan himself could see many pros and cons to the space program, and space exploration worldwide. What say all of you? I am obviously a fan and mightily upset that we federally/commercially spend so little on space exploration and the space sciences. We'd be living "2001: a Space Odyssey" right now if we devoted even half the money and material, worlwide, to space as we devote to war. Still, some say we should forget war and space altogether and "feed the people" as it were. I think we can "feed the people" and explore space at the same time. Again, what say all of you?

[northzax]

1. value neutral

it all depends on the context and what you do with it. If you have a space program and yet a thousand of your citizens starve to death every month, it leans towards bad, just as an example. if the space program leads to more education of people in scienced ans math, then you got a good.

[Maple]

2. Good

Absolutely.

The search for knowledge is always good.

And it beats always running off to fight a war and kill people, as a national purpose.

We've already gotten many benefits from the space program in particular. Especially in medicine.

[mainer]

good good good!

But then I'm an old Trekkie who still believes in the Federation ideals.

[doodadem]

7. I loved the Kucinich joke

about the reason Bush wanted to explore Mars. "Well, that's the only place he hasn't looked for WMDs yet!"
But think about it--if we all had replicators so there was no more push for material wealth, wouldn't that about solve all the world's problems? (at least on Earth)

[LiberalVoice]

3. If the human race wasnt so obsessed with...

dominating one another we could easily feed everyone on this planet and have tons of money left to devote for space exploration. Unfortunatly thats not how it works.

[mwb970]

4. Unfortunately, the rationale for the space program has become war.

The only reason our present government favors having a space program is so they can weaponize space and dominate the world with technology.

[mainer]

5. And ps -- we violated the Prime Directive in Iraq

You can't "spread democracy":

------

Federation

PRIME DIRECTIVE

As the right of each sentient species to live in accordance with its normal cultural evolution is considered sacred, no Star Fleet personnel may interfere with the healthy development of alien life and culture. Such interference includes the introduction of superior knowledge, strength, or technology to a world whose society is incapable of handling such advantages wisely. Star Fleet personnel may not violate this Prime Directive, even to save their lives and/or their ship unless they are acting to right an earlier violation or an accidental contamination of said culture. This directive takes precedence over any and all other considerations, and carries with it the highest moral
obligation.

[Massacure]

6. It's not good - it's excellent!

16 billion dollars. That is one half of one percent of the government budget yet it has had such a great impact on society.

[Igel]

8. I stayed up till the middle of the night to watch the moon

walk--I was 10, and a science nerd.

I made a ton of money last year translating documents for the RD-180.



I like any space program, both on principle, and for income.

[MHalblaub]

19. This one is bigger!

and here the same picture bigger:

ht tp://commons.wikimedia.org/upload/1/16/S-IC_engines_and_Von_Braun.jpg
(1000k, but really impressing)

[Rosco T.]

9. I can't say it better than this...

Ask ten different scientists about the environment, population
control, genetics and you'll get ten different answers, but there's
one thing every scientist on the planet agrees on. Whether it happens
in a hundred years or a thousand years or a million years, eventually
our Sun will grow cold and go out.

When that happens, it won't just take us.

It'll take Marilyn Monroe and Lao-Tzu and Einstein and Morobuto and
Buddy Holly and Aristophenes ..

and all of this ..

all of this .. was for nothing

.. unless we go to the stars."

-- Cmdr Jeffery Sinclar, Babylon 5

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

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[buddysmellgood]

12. yes

[Nordmadr]

13. Until we can learn to live with respect for this world...

we should not be looking to expand to others.

Olaf

[Tux]

14. We need to do it

Why would a tool-making/using species have the ability to make the means to travel from one planet to other locations in the universe not try to explore our beautiful universe and see what or who is out there?

[DrGonzoLives]

15. Very very very very good

n/t

[soothsayer]

16. I like the idea, but we'll only use it for ill. Militarization of space.

Bleah!

Has nothing to do with feeding the starving. Money in one place really has no bearing on lack of money in another place. There's plenty to go around, just not the will to carry it out. I'm just talking about the U.S. In other parts of the world, there's generally plenty of food and money but it's politics that keeps people impoverished.

[Kazak]

17. Until we learn to live without destroying our own planet...

we've got no business inhabiting another one, IMHO.

[BuyingThyme]

18. It depends on who's running the show.

Remember when they all came forward, held the biggest press conference since the moon landing, and tried to convince us that there was life on Mars? (I think it was in Clinton's second term; I could be wrong.)

They based their findings on a rock which they found on Earth, which they insisted MAY have come from Mars. They called attention to microscopic squiggly things which MAY be consistent with the presence of water, which MAY be consistent with the presence of living organisms, which blah blah blah.

Well, guess what...It was a con job. The numbers they presented did not support their so-called conclusions and or beliefs. The simplest statistical calculation showed them to be liars. They ripped us off.

BTW: The head liar in the Mars job might have been the same guy who came up with the insane theory about the space shuttle being hit by a meteorite (in the most recent disaster). What's wrong with that theory? Well, nothing...Especially if you believe JFK was similarly hit by a meteorite.

They think you're stupid.

[JitterbugPerfume]

20. Science =good

Politcians sticking their nose in Science= bad

[Moderator]

21. Locking

This poster is no longer at DU.