Actually seems like a good way to go. Also, they're right out cancelling the Constellation project and earmarked $6 billion for commercial taxis to orbit, indicating an opening for the private sector to get in on space flight. It's basically like the government buying a ticket for their astronauts.
An interesting new direction.
I'm against aggressive exploration for its own sake.
I think space exploration is a noble goal, and must eventually happen, but right now at our level of technology there isn't really any motivation. There are no resources worth getting, no other civilizations that we're aware of yet, and we don't have the ability to terraform and claim land. Any resources put towards space programs beyond local space would probably be better put in dealing with local issues.
I do think that reseach should continue, but as more of a hedge than a determined drive. Still, given choice between military spending and exploration I'd certainly take exploration. Imagine what NASA would do with a decade's worth of military spending.
Being against this is just completely irrational in every way. I don't see (and have yet to see) any sound arguments to be against it.
Finances? Exploring space could end up being expensive and could take away resources for more immediate concerns.
Resources that we're spending so wisely now.
Finances? Exploring space could end up being expensive and could take away resources for more immediate concerns.
Orbital missions are launched all the time to maintain everyone's aging fleets of satellites. Cape Canaveral alone launches crap tons of rockets. Some times two or three a month. Sending out some probes from there isn't a huge step further.
No, I wouldn't think so. But any furtherance would cost something, time, resources. It would all come down to who is willing to pay for what. How far are we willing to go. But yeah to me potential rewards and discoveries are too great to not fund this. Can't really think of any other arguments why someone would be against this except for some extremely slim hinging on slippry slope ones such as those involving ramifications from other lifeforms, the danger involved in general, it somehow being against a particular religion. But yeah I don't really know enough about the specifics of this to rea say much beyond speculation.
Resources that we're spending so wisely now. Plastic surgery and edible underwear, for instance.
Even if we agree space is where we should go, the direct route might not be the best one:
You could easily argue that investing in our future in space is better done with a much bigger portion of it without going to actual space.
For instance, the billions of dollars it would take for a one time back and forth human mission to mars would be better off invested in robotics, seed factory methodologies and 3d printing that could enable us to create self sufficient ecology of robotic asteroid mining resource refining and construction, enabling us to construct as many sampling rovers around mars as we want, or construct an entire fleet of interplanetary vehicles to be waiting for us pre-fueled in orbit.
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