Why I Support The Space Program

Lots of people out there think the space program is a huge waste of money. That it's nothing more than a dick measuring contest between global superpowers to see who can put more things in space. And how pointless, wasteful, and stupid it is. They say, "Lets focus only on the issues here on Earth. We are running out of resources, the population is going out of control and there's too much poverty." Further, the same people may say things like "We need to reduce the population." "How 'bout a depopulation program?" "A huge catastrophe that wipes out millions of people would be nice."

Yes, I've actually heard people voice these opinions.

Depopulation programs are the most inhumane and tyrannical forms of fascism that's ever been known to exist. It's ruined countless lives, communities, cultures, nations, and caused war and genocide.

The human population is going to keep growing at this rate as long as we have the technology to sustain an increasing population. The increasing population demands more environmental exploitation for more resources. Resources that are limited. Eventually, the terrestrial human population will have a rat-cage effect; when you put a few rats in a cage with limited food and water sources, they will keep on reproducing until resources become scarce, and they'll eventually start eating each other to stay alive. And you can bet your asses that the impoverished will be the first to go.

The most humane way to keep the population alive and well is to expand and colonize space and other planets. Outer space is huge and limitless. Just think of all the undiscovered resources that could be found out there that could be useful to human development. For example, the Moon would be a good place to have a spaceport and spacecraft factory. There are lots of steel meteorites all over the Moon. Use that steel to manufacture space stations and spacecraft. The Moon's weaker gravitational force would make a great launch site for space ships because it would require far less energy to launch.

 

Look. Forcing people to depopulate is bad mmkay. But acknowledging we have no place to settle (yet) in space and some places on earth are so overcrowded it has an impact on the enviroment seems only wise. It sounds a bit like you would discredit everyone who voices an opinion about overpopulation as a serious concern as invalid and ludicrous because we can expand into space. While it is actually ludicrous to seriously state we can already populate/colonize other places in the solar system just like that. It takes a lot of time. More then just a couple of decades. It could very well be impossible for reasons we do not know yet.

 

If all that's true, then the only thing your solution proposes is a delayed date for facing the same problem.

 

Getting people to colonize space is science fiction at this point in time, I get that. Yet developing the technology to get there is still achievable. Just because you and I may not live to see public space travel in our lifetimes, that doesn't mean we should ignore it and let our future generation sort out the problem when it gets worse.

 

Well, it is exactly the same with the problem called overpopulation. I'm not saying we should ignore space exploration and put a total stop on it but it is NOT the primarily solution to overpopulation, especially not in the short run.

 

Space program is important. How can we ever advance science without "wasting" money on scientific programs? Plus, I really want to live to see major advances in space exploration, unlikely as that is.

 

We can advance science without a space program. The question is: where can we invest research money where we are likely to get the greatest bang for the buck? This is especially important now because the Republican Party has been blocking nearly every research expenditure. They don't seem to understand the idea of investment, unless it comes from the private sector, so there isn't enough money for research.

I personally do not believe that the space program is the best use of these scarce funds. I happen to agree with those who say that it gets the support it does mostly because it's sexy. I think that nothing is more important than renewable energy research.

I think the government should get out of the way of private companies like Space-X who want to commercialize space. I would like to spend a week having weightless sex in the orbiting Marriott Hotel.

 

we also shouldn't ignore the problems we're facing on this planet due to some vague idea we can all just leave earth one day after we completely destroy all its resources.

 

Agreed. If I sounded like I don't care about anything else in my first post, that wasn't my intention, lol.

Well, I suppose more funding research grants for space physicists would be ideal as well. There's also more problems in other areas as well that need addressing as well. Renewable energy is just as crucial, I agree.


Also, I must correct myself in post 1 when I said meteorites are made of steel; they are actually made of IRON! Duh, how did I mess that up?

 

well, as far as said superpowers are concerned, that's pretty much all it is. of course, that doesn't mean that no good can come from a dick measuring contest.

 

Indeed, think of all the sponsoring and advertisements that could be connected to such an event

 

Nature will balance all these. For example, a new widely-spread deadly virus.

 

Finding earth-like planet(s) and implementing the tech to reach them is one solution out of many that will solve overpopulation of a planet. But you're right, not in the short run. As inconceivable as it seems, if we had both of these solved today we wouldn't even question using the extra planet(s). But people start pondering what it would be like and you start getting thoughts of Elysium/2012 or similar movies where you have to pay to get in. Government does need to always be regulating private companies venturing into space because space travel involves flight and trajectories that span across many countries. We already require commercial airline pilots to disclose medical conditions, otherwise bad shit happens like what just happened with the Germanwings passenger jet pilot who slowly sent everyone to their deaths

@sunfighter You made a good point we need renewable energy research to help bring down recurring energy costs. Imagine everyone paying a $20 electric bill and not harming the environment? Or solar-powered homes with Tesla batteries for personal energy storage at night ? Cars, Buses, the list goes on and on.

However you guys cannot discredit the space program for all it's done for human beings. It's not just sexy. It's so much more.
You know what let Neil tell you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDLrwwOxnaA

 

Space exploration is very expensive, it's hard to face that fact myself, as I find it to be the most valuable way for humans to advance. It's human nature to find the next great height, and to survive, it's only a matter of time before we reach those space rocks. Though we'll probably need some dumb political move to get people to care. Maybe we'll have to race ISIS to mars

 

Electric cars will never be the answer. They're probably worse than gas, the batteries are as good as nuclear waste. Not biodegradable or safely disposable. And we neither have the lithium required to even produce as many cars as their are gas cars.

 

Let's say a craft of explorers gets to Mars. Can someone explain to this dumb-ass roofer, where will the oxygen come from to support human life?

I know there must be a way because those astronauts will remain in orbit for a year.

 

plants. Mars is full of nitrogen which is perfect for plant growth. Mars isn't suitable how it is now, we'd have to terraform it, and create an atmosphere

 

the cars need to get get their power directly from the street, i'm not sure how you would implement it though. some kind of sliding contact like they use for trains would be too dangerous, but possibly some type of inductive coupling might work.

fuel cells are good too, would need better safer technology to store hydrogen. hydrogen isn't the only fuel a fuel cell can use though. i bet there's energy all around us though that we haven't even though about, oxidation of carbon isn't the only type of chemical reaction that can yield a lot of energy.

 

I like the street idea, here's some of my ideas.
Wind energy could be used, if you lined highways with small turbines that would spin when traffic passed by, they could be used as energy reserves.

But here is the undeveloped idea: Cars are using energy, and as we know energy is never created or destroyed, it's just transferred. Currently with gas vehicles the energy is turned into carbon. But if we think about it theoretically, if we could find a way to have a car shoot it's energy to propel forward, and to have cars behind them be able to intake that energy, perhaps 9-5 traffic will actually be recycling energy instead of polluting.

Obviously, I'm far from an idea there, but hopefully that can inspire someone.

Hydrogen is a good way to go, wind energy might actually come into play, think about all the wind a car off shoots. I think forumula one actually uses this

 

Why not put the turbines on the grills in front to spin and charge batteries? Or is that asking for perpetual motion?