How far do you agree/disagree with this statement:

[vilarryn]

Space exploration is a waste of time and money.

[K6-III]

Disagree 100%....

(Damn troll)

[neubjr]

I'd hope that most people on these forums would at least mostly disagree. I disagree 100% also. I think that space exploration is necessary for humanity. We have not even begun to breach the craddle of our existance. And the Earth really can only hold us for so long. If we want to expand as a civilization we have to move beyond the Earth.

many people argue, "but there are so many problems on the Earth, why should we waste money going to space?" Well, my answer to that is that there will ALWAYS be problems on the Earth. You will never solve every problem. If you did, then life would be truly pointless. It is always an uphill battle in some sense, but that does not mean that you should not push to expand humanity into the unknown. We cannot begin to say what the rest of the solar system (let alone universe) really has in store for humanity until we really begin to change our view and outlook on it and start to explore!

Joshua.

[Buzzwang2003]

Well, why don't you explain why? :D
Buzzwang

[K6-III]

Prior to solving other matters, issues of survival must be addressed.....which falls very well into something covered by space colonization....

[timeshifter]

So, then, if you think space exploration is a waste of time and money, then answer me this-

WHY DO WE HAVE SPACE?

Honestly, though, why would space be there if there was no other life forms for us to find. Or other elements for us to discover. There are billions of galaxies in the universe, and hundreds of billions of stars in each of those galaxies. Many of them house a solar system just like ours.

So, for all we know, the human race could be in the trillions and beyond, but we do not know because they are in a different galaxy and have no method of communications.

This could be all speculation, but think of it.

Trillions upon trillions upon trillions of stars- and no life?!?

It just seems absurd to me.

[K6-III]

Indeed life elsewhere may be possible. But, for the sake of our survival, it is best to assume we are alone for the time being....

[Steracide]

whether i am a big astronomy fan and will start to study Air -and Spaceflighttechnology ( if you have this word in english :) ) next year, i sometimes ask myself the question though it´s paradox to my personal attitude..does it really make sense for our generation (and for the coming) to explore this unbelievable (obviously) endless space?....i think when it comes to space, we see, that mankind isn´t selfish. everything we do and explore in space is for the coming generations...we all know it is not so helpful for us today.but it is also so important for us to go out there, because we already reached our limits here on earth. a human hates limits.
when you look way into the future, "everything" makes no sense. mankind will drown anyway someday. but we explore the universe because of our craving for answers and to survive in this chaotic space (black holes and astroids that threat us for ex.) as long as we can. so, people who think that it is a waste of time, have an selfish attitude...but an attitude that can be understood.
many people say..."spaceexploration is great, maybe we´ll find ways to live forever"...now, who wants live forever?
what happens when we found the end of space? then we have one limit more...humans start to fight for "space" in "space" and etc. but we all really want to know what the hell is going on out there and why there is something going on? everything must have happend by coincidence...otherwise we would know why..wouldn´t we?
exploring space is such a great trip towards answers to difficult questions, freedom, world-changing news, variety, possible communication (i don´t believe in it), hope, beautiful impressions etc. but also a danger to mankind....but all these facts, make it interesting and worth for me to study A-S.tech. ..and yes...to spend money for it.

i´ve attached a in some ways funny picture, that shows an possible "end" of our search...that actually leads into an "never-ending-story".

greetz
steracide (germany)

[Kirsten]

Originally posted by Steracide
whether i am a big astronomy fan and will start to study Air -and Spaceflighttechnology ( if you have this word in english :) ) next year, i sometimes ask myself the question though it´s paradox to my personal attitude..does it really make sense for our generation (and for the coming) to explore this unbelievable (obviously) endless space?....i think when it comes to space, we see, that mankind isn´t selfish. everything we do and explore in space is for the coming generations...we all know it is not so helpful for us today.

No, we don't all know that. In fact, I would hope that most of us recognize that the exploration and development of space IS for us.

Certainly, there are plenty of private entrepreneurial space ventures and advocates of space entrepreneurship whose existence demonstrates that there are many people who think that space is for and will benefit our generation significantly in addition to benefitting future generations.

[Steracide]

hey, don´t get me wrong here...

i think the last few sentences of my last entry have pretty much the same content and meaning like your entry.

obviously i didn´t express myself good enough...
for me and i´m sure for many other people in the world the improvement of our knowledge about spacefacts is a really exciting and encouraging thing. i actually meant the chance of success concerning the finding of "intelligent" liveforms as we are or finding answers to the most common questions we have about space is very small.
i hope you can understand my attitude in some ways better now...if you could speak german i would have explained it here in my motherlanguage :).
sorry about that...

greetz
steracide

[irizarry]

Recently NASA was severely criticized for trying to disprove that “illuminated group” who say we never landed on the moon. They spent thousands of dollars to debunk these folks who have drifted off into never-never land and think this was a grand conspiracy
(It was probably a conspiracy to sell T-shirts). The point discovered here is that there is a level of scientific illiteracy out there that has to be corrected by the educational system. Remarkably enough, some poor NASA representative each year is called before Congress to defend space exploration. You know, its not a good idea to poke yourself in the eye with a sharp stick. This reason is as good a reason today as it was when our Hominid ancestors discovered it!


Irizarry

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[Kirsten]

Originally posted by irizarry
Remarkably enough, some poor NASA representative each year is called before Congress to defend space exploration. You know, its not a good idea to poke yourself in the eye with a sharp stick. This reason is as good a reason today as it was when our Hominid ancestors discovered it!

I don't think this is quite right. I think that NASA is called before Congress not largely to defend space exploration, but to defend government FUNDING of space exploration. And the reason for THAT is not the same reason that was used to justify extensive government funding in the early days of space exploration.

As a taxpayer who is aware of the significant fraud, waste, and abuse that happens under the NASA umbrella regularly, I appreciate that NASA is at least called to pay lip service in front of Congress occasionally. Sure it's not highly likely to resolve the problem, but at least someone from NASA has to squirm from time to time. The difference between NASA and ENRON is this: when ENRON (or another private entity) cheats and gets caught, it typically dies in the marketplace or is forced to change radically; when NASA (or another government entity) cheats and gets caught, it gets bailed out and carries on the cheating in much the same way as it has been.

[timeshifter]

Okay, let me get this one straight: we are mostly in favor of space exploration. However, I'm sure you have all heard about the Columbia tragedy. If not, check up on it. That incident alone is threatening the future of space development. We are still doing the space station from what I hear, but the actual routine of exploring space in manned craft is under heavy debate.

[Steracide]

that´s right...unfortunatly it is.

now we have to depend on russia. but their spacecrafts are only able to carry between 5-10 tons of extra material. so any module is obviously too much weight. they´re just going to be responsible for the food transport. so the ISS will have to wait a bit i guess.....i hope the russian crafts will be able to reboost the ISS.

germany, france and spain (ESA) should stop arguing about GALILEO and should start to help.....

[K6-III]

The flaw with most arguments for manned spaceflight is that they focus on doing better science. That is bullshit. The real purpose of manned spaceflight is eventual colonization.

If people ask what the use of colonization is, a response would be that it is the same use that a newborn child provides: it is the future.

[timeshifter]

First off, please watch the language. Second, I can see a major flaw with that thinking right off. Sure, man explores space for chances of colonization, but heck, if the Columbia tragedy gets too far out of hand, we could be looking at the end of space exploration right here and now.

The first thing we need to do is figure out beyond a shadow of a doubt what went wrong with the Columbia. Now that we are down to two shuttles, we need to avoid it in the future. This can only happen if NASA pulls its research teams together like it is doing (and of which I am happy) and find out what went wrong. After that problem is settled, we can avoid it in the future and continue with our programs.

Either way, we are now looking up to Russia for food to the ISS, but they cannot bring up new modules to make the station better. They need us for that part because we have the ability to haul 50-ton pieces of metal into space and the pinpoint accuracy to put them on.

Another dangerous problem: the war in Iraq. Now, it may not look like a big problem up front, but think about it- The ISS, or International Space Station, is called that for a very good reason. There are parts of that station from every major power in the world, and even a few not-so-major. If we lose all our support by beating up Iraq, we lose a lot of good ideas for the space station, not to mention the support from those who can build them.

Do you see my point? I am totally against the war for fear that it will ruin our space programs. If we can successfully colonize the moon or Mars, mankind will have a new goal outside of destroying their own race.