Is space exploration worth the cost?

[Hermean]

Hey guys - I'm a huge space geek and I just came across this nifty site that lets people host debates and opinions on their interests. I wanted to share it out with you guys. It`s a pretty cool place to share information easily in a community

https://www.hubub.com/117074

[PeterEde (Peter)]

If we stay on this rock the human race will perish. Reason enough?
But in the end if scientists are right, the universe will collapse back on itself and all life will perish. So we're only putting off the inevitable.
Imagine where we'd be today if the world pooled it's space cash and did one mega project. WE'd be half way to Alpha Centauri by now

[Wavytone]

Originally Posted by PeterEde

If ... the universe will collapse back on itself ...

All life is doomed - we can't escape the universe !

[Hermean]

I have to agree Peter that is definitely a good enough reason and very likely to be true since we seem intent on killing of not only each other but our resources too ...

[PeterEde (Peter)]

Originally Posted by Wavytone

All life is doomed - we can't escape the universe !

I'll wait for the movie. Until then it's all theoretical physics

[Renato1 (Renato)]

Originally Posted by PeterEde

Imagine where we'd be today if the world pooled it's space cash and did one mega project. WE'd be half way to Alpha Centauri by now

With the 1950s technology Project Orion nuclear rockets - travelling at 1/10th to 1/3rd the speed of light (depending on who you read) - Alpha Centauri would have been explored by now, and quite economically.
Cheers,
Renato

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Originally Posted by Renato1

With the 1950s technology Project Orion nuclear rockets - travelling at 1/10th to 1/3rd the speed of light (depending on who you read) - Alpha Centauri would have been explored by now, and quite economically.
Cheers,
Renato

Hope they find somewhere to colonise because the earth would now be a radioactive heap from the liftoffs.

[PeterEde (Peter)]

Originally Posted by ZeroID

Hope they find somewhere to colonise because the earth would now be a radioactive heap from the liftoffs.

Those craft were to be built and launched in space I think. Google
We've proven via ISS that we can build large structures in orbit.
Problem is now that launching radio isotopes into space for power has been killed off. I can't see us launching nuclear reactors/radioactive materials without "A" government ignoring public perception/risk

[PeterEde (Peter)]

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/2014...lear-spaceship

[multiweb (Marc)]

The 1% of mega wealthy people who are running the whole joint will tell us when it's viable, sorry I should say worth the investment. First they'll need to find a planet with a big enough population to exploit or something to mine and sell.

[tonybarry (Tony)]

The cost of space exploration is considerable ... but the cost of banging up ISIL which Australia has just committed to, is quoted at around $500e6. That would translate to a pretty serious space project.

Which is preferable ... well I think an off-planet program would generate more hope and positive outcomes than a war against another country.

Add to this the known risk of extinction events on earth from asteroid, and being able to move off-planet begins to look quite prudent, as well as interesting and exciting.

Is it worth the cost ? I think so.

Regards,
Tony Barry

[Pinwheel (Doug)]

Is it worth the cost-

Microwave ovens
Cordless drills
Micro computers
Cellular phones
Satellites
New metals
New drugs
New sciences
hypersonic aircraft
The list is endless

YES it's worth it...

[Pinwheel (Doug)]

Originally Posted by Wavytone

All life is doomed - we can't escape the universe !

Yes we can....TIME TRAVEL, we'll just stay living in the past....

[PeterEde (Peter)]

I don't think extinction events come into it. After all it would take years of astronomical research from the new world to determine local space hazards.
A planet could be wiped out by a Death star the day we landed and we'd be non the wiser for decades. Meanwhile we've sent another load of space migrants from earth to Alderan that is now just space dust.

[julianh72 (Julian)]

Originally Posted by tonybarry

... but the cost of banging up ISIL which Australia has just committed to, is quoted at around $500e6.

The US Department of Defence spent over 750 billion dollars in Iraq on direct war-related costs between 2003 and 2010, not including the related costs of interest on borrowings to fund the war - and then there's the costs of all the other parties (including Australia).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financi...f_the_Iraq_War

Just imagine what that money could have done spent on ANYTHING other than a war! E.g.: The Apollo program cost $20 billion in 1970s dollars, or around $150 billion today.

NASA's entire budget is currently about $18 billion per year, and is the smallest percentage of US GDP that it has been since 1960.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budget_of_NASA

[PeterEde (Peter)]

ISIS needs to be eradicated but it should be done by Muslim countries. But they wont do anything. For now ISIS only enemy is the PKK. Who's leader has been imprisoned in turkey since 1999 for terrorism.
Who are we arming and will it bite us on the ass later? We need to clean house and get rid of people here who support ISIS

[blink138 (Pat)]

Originally Posted by multiweb

The 1% of mega wealthy people who are running the whole joint will tell us when it's viable, sorry I should say worth the investment. First they'll need to find a planet with a big enough population to exploit or something to mine and sell.

............. yes we should just send a liberal government in first then!
pat

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Originally Posted by Pinwheel

Is it worth the cost-

Microwave ovens
Cordless drills
Micro computers
Cellular phones
Satellites
New metals
New drugs
New sciences
hypersonic aircraft
The list is endless

YES it's worth it...

All that and more

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by blink138

............. yes we should just send a liberal government in first then!
pat

...and don't forget Bill to tax them so they don't breathe too hard during terraforming.

[el_draco (Rom)]

Originally Posted by jjjnettie

All that and more

Including remote sensing of earths surface.