space exploration

[timeshifter]

so, we all know that the earth will not last forever. but that will not affect us for another 2 billion years. the only problem i see is with our squandering our recources. is that the main reason nasa wants to progress into space? any help here would be hot.

[neubjr]

I do not think that there is any one "main" reason to go into space. I personally think that there are many many reasons to push forward into space.

NASA has many pages that list various goals for certain things. There are many different departments within NASA each that have their own goal as well. For some information that may help you concerning the exploration of the solarsystem you can look here:

http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/index.cfm

The links on the left of the page to "Why Explore" and "science goals" may help you a bit with what you are looking at.

[timeshifter]

thanks for the help, i think ill look into it

[K6-III]

The primary reason is quite primal: to survive. Other than that, plenty of reasons exist....

[timeshifter]

so, then...
name some of them.
i can name a few: quote this and add on if you can:


to harvest recources to almost infinity.

to have several solar systems inhabited than just one.

to preserve the human race.



that is all i can think of right now, but im sure there are more.

[Steve Langford]

There are also political reasons for funding NASA. The International Space Station, for instance, keeps thousands of American and Russian citizens on the payroll of their respective governments. Given the potential harm that a few
"rocket scientists" could do in certain developing countries with deep pockets and axes to grind, this is not a trivial benefit. In terms of scientific understanding and commercial development, our space dollars could be spent more efficiently. However, there may be adverse side effects.

[K6-III]

Depends what happens with increased efficiency, increased capability or decreased spending....

[timeshifter]

so then... tell me how increased efficiency would help us. i might just be having a bad brain day, but i still cannot think up any intelligent reasons other than curiosity and survival.

with space exploration comes incredible power to do major damage to any city in the world. hydrogen warheads are incredibly powerful, and with space exploration would come the element of surprise with those missiles.

[K6-III]

Increased efficiency, with the capability to deliver considerable mass to LEO and beyond, would enable us to expand the number of people that have access to space tremendously.

This enables colonization.

[timeshifter]

so then... let me see if i get this right.

increased efficiency allows for more people to be moved across space at one time. this allows for colonization.

where?

the ISS is so far the only man-made structure that can inhabit human life for an indefinite period of time, and we can't put men on mars without technology that has not been proven safe.

therefore, does it not follow that the idea of increased efficiency and increased spending on research is a waste for the time being?
with the ISS alone, i can see the only plausible reason for increasing our efficiency as to get to and from the ISS using less of our natural recourses. correct me if i am wrong, but for the while, would that be the only reason to push this topic?

[boris]

Space can give birth to life but Space can take it away too. Whether as a supernova in our star neighbourhood or as a big azz asteroid, Space is deadly dangerous for Life on Earth. If we sit tightly - as Dinosaurs did for some 100 milion years (because i'm sure that nobody will give us 2 bilions of years to do so)- we are going to end up just like them - bones in the dust, and this is the best scenario.

[K6-III]

Originally posted by timeshifter
so then... let me see if i get this right.

increased efficiency allows for more people to be moved across space at one time. this allows for colonization.

where?

the ISS is so far the only man-made structure that can inhabit human life for an indefinite period of time, and we can't put men on mars without technology that has not been proven safe.

therefore, does it not follow that the idea of increased efficiency and increased spending on research is a waste for the time being?
with the ISS alone, i can see the only plausible reason for increasing our efficiency as to get to and from the ISS using less of our natural recourses. correct me if i am wrong, but for the while, would that be the only reason to push this topic?

The target that I have in mind is the moon.

[boris]

At this point space exploration means - sending probes to gather information and nothing else. Sending people to Mars for the sake of having our footsteps and flag there is a total waste of time and money. Our civilization is not ready for this kind of exploration yet and what i mean is not because we can't do it but because at this level of the technology it is not worth the effort. We set a foot on The Moon some 30 years ago. So what? Whatever resourses the Moon has we don't have an access to them - they are right up there flying above us at some 150 000 miles and still unreachable.

And then we are talking about Mars which is about 50 to 200 milion miles away.

[K6-III]

That is why such resources are expended, infastructure must be constructed which allows for more than a few trips to take place, regardless of the political climate...

[timeshifter]

That is why such resources are expended, infastructure must be constructed which allows for more than a few trips to take place, regardless of the political climate...

In light of the current political climate, I would have to disagree. Granted, we are all in this together, whether we like it or not, but still, NASA runs on a political basis, and if the Congress (political) decides to shut down NASA for some god-stricken reason, what are they going to do about it? We need to keep political moral on this subject high or it will all go down the drain. Now, back to our origional topic...

So, we have agreed that space travel brings with it many possibilities, many of which are not good. For instance, the ability to destroy any city in the world with absolutely no warning. Scary? It should be. Then again, it also allows for expansion of space and research on topics currently much to advanced for life on Earth. Who knows? The moon could be the site of the next space research facility. And with its location, who knows what we could get done?

[Grant Nockolds]

Originally posted by timeshifter
so, we all know that the earth will not last forever. but that will not affect us for another 2 billion years. the only problem i see is with our squandering our recources. is that the main reason nasa wants to progress into space? any help here would be hot.

Greetings timeshifter...

I believe; as others including yourself have said that the reasons for space exploration are many...true. However the greatest reason or drive behind it all; is I believe, the same characteristic in humanity that has and continues to bring about inovation and development - that being curiousity... the unknown, the as yet unconquered or understood are the grandest frontiers for humanity... and there will always be people among us for whom these question marks become there passion.

It is possibly sold to the governments of the world (whom fund these endeavours) with an inherent $ value benefit but i dont believe the scientists have any interest whatsoever in any monetary gains.

[Dylan]

What I have been wondering is where will we go if infact the earth is under threat??? Obviously we cannot take every soul on this planet with us, so only the most important ppl will be brought along on what ever expedition we may go on. Say if earth is about to be destroyed by a comet or an asteroid, where will we go??? the moon as i see it is a lifeless wonder that shines brightly above us. We all remember that day 20th july 1969 when neil armstrong set foot on the moon. Personally, I do not believe that they could have. There are so many facts that say they couldnt, but there are so many that say they could have. The one that baffles me is the "Van Allen belt" the radiation belt around the earths magnetosphere. The only reason we survive is because of our magnetosphere and atmosphere that stops most of the solar radiation. Big enough Solar radiation storms can screw with satellite systems which are close, if not, in our magnetosphere. Someone once said that to protct an astronaught from this deadly radiation you would need 5 foot thick lead shields.....

Sorry ive gone babbling on again.....

The most promising place if we do venture out into space would have to be mars. I would personally like to see humans on Europa but i probrably wont live to see such a day. But then again.. the way technology is going these days who knows what the future may hold. In Canberra australia they have teleported light using all that quantum physics that i have no idea about but it just goes to show that there is no limit to what we can achieve and who know. in 20 years we could be sailing throught the rings of saturn. (although very unlikely)