Quote:
Originally Posted by OneOfOne
Probably about as much money as the military spends on sandwiches in Afganistan in a year. Here's hoping they didn't get the Russians to design too much  |
Well Trevor .. as it turns out, the radioisotope thermoelectric generator aboard MSL/Curiosity contains Plutonium sourced entirely from Russia !
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert9
Whatever it finds, it is sure to be of scientific worth. However, value to the society at large, beyond increaing our knowledge of a planet many millions of kilometers from us which has little or no effect on our mediocre day to day lives, probably nought. (Astrologers excepted)
|
Have you considered that MSL/Curiosity's main focus is the exploration of current and past Habitability Zones?
The ramifications of this enquiry can be put towards directly extending our knowledge of (i) the sensitivity of extant life to environmental factors which may have never occurred here on Earth or alternatively, (ii) the sensitivity of the emergence of life, upon initial environmental conditions, which may or may not have occurred here on Earth.
What use is having this knowledge in our daily lives ?
Someday, our survival will be critically dependent on our understanding of these sensitivities .. we know this as a factual certainty. If we accept that this knowledge is not presently economically justifiable, then can you state under what conditions it will ever be justifiable? If we view that it is never economically justifiable and we, accordingly, never spend to acquire such knowledge, then we are ensuring that we will ultimately witness the extinction of all known life on Earth.
With this perspective, is it now justified ?
Also, for consideration by the other folk questioning research expenditures:
Without military defence investment in the US, the economic and social freedoms we enjoy in this country, (and others), along with democratic political processes would be compromised. Without military funding, scientific research (such as MSL/Curiosity) is unlikely to be able to proceed unhindered. One is dependent on the other .. the two go hand-in-hand.
'Either/or prioritisation', is a constraint which in my view, is unsupportable and also unjustifiable.
Cheers