[HAP]

Very serious question and not meant to pull political strings at all.

Given the dire conditions each county on earth now faces with burgeoning populations and limited resources to care for the people do you think it is time for a united effort, by all the earths governments, to pool resources and cooperate in finding another habital planet to migrate to?

Just reading about the costs needed to supply the international space station. You could feed, house, educate and care for a lot of earth's people with the money spent on just one flight to the station. And, we haven't gone beyond the moon yet with people. Mars rocks are cute but they don't feed folks.

Just a thought.

 

[spank86]

The cost of NASAs budget for it's entire lifespan (up to it handing off flights to contractors) was less than the USA's military budget for one year.

 

[HAP]

The cost of NASAs budget for it's entire lifespan (up to it handing off flights to contractors) was less than the USA's military budget for one year.

Spank. I can't ask governments to stop killing each other. They seem to like it. I just think all the duplication in research and science for space flight by all countries could be easier to combine than stopping wars. Besides if we simply moved those we don't like to another planet we wouldn't need armies would we?

 

[echoraven]

The problem with helping people is that well, it never ends.

Space exploration is something that unites all people. There was something so amazing about watching those old videos about the moon landing and watching people from other countries just marvel at that achievement.

It sounds heartless, but feed the least fortunate and they will create more less fortunate to feed. The key would be education but how many generations until the poor(est) stop perpetuating the poverty?

As far as military spending, it's playground politics. The kid least likely to get picked on is the biggest kid.

 

[Demonic]

Hap, not sure what you are asking. Are you asking if we should all invest MORE into the space program, to try to broaden our horizons, find alternate sources of resources, &c, or are you saying we should STOP spending the money, and use it to pay for food for the poor, instead?

Yes, to the first, No, to the second.

And plenty of nations HAVE been pooling resources, hence the INTERNATIONAL space station.

 

[Demonic]

As far as military spending, it's playground politics. The kid least likely to get picked on is the biggest kid.

Can't remember the last time anyone's attacked Belgium...

EDIT: Apart from the Germans. Ok, maybe bad example.

 

[KD5QOQ]

Space technology touches and enhances practically every aspect of life on Earth. Much of what improves our lives - think healthcare, communications, travel, recreation, entertainment - benefits directly from technology originally developed for or improved for space exploration. Technologies developed to get us "out there" come home to improve life on Earth.

 

[Demonic]

All right, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, what has the Space Program ever done for us?

 

[spank86]

Spank. I can't ask governments to stop killing each other. They seem to like it. I just think all the duplication in research and science for space flight by all countries could be easier to combine than stopping wars. Besides if we simply moved those we don't like to another planet we wouldn't need armies would we?

My point being that the space program is a drop in the ocean and a 10% drop in military budget for 10 years would pay for it leaving the USA still by far the biggest military spender on the planet.

Once upon a time russia was the biggest kid, thats WHY the germans went after them in the first world war.

 

[radan2]

Even if we were to find another habitable planet, how fast would we have to move people off earth to have any effect on our population?

I am reminded of the famous puzzle about the marching Chinese:

If the people of China were to march past you in lines 10 abreast, how long would it take for the entire population of China to march past?

ANSWER: Forever. The number that could march past in any day would be less than the number of Chinese babies born that same day. So there would always be more Chinese waiting to march past.

And that is only the Chinese, whose birth rate has diminished. It doesn't include the people of the rest of the world.

I believe that we should spend money to explore space for two reasons:
1. In material terms, our expenditures on the space program have produced fantastic returns in terms of new technologies, jobs, etc.
2. In human terms, our species thrives on goals. Civilizations that have goals tend to be more dynamic than those whose only purpose is to preserve themselves.

 

[KD5QOQ]

All right, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, what has the Space Program ever done for us?

You know those calculators you can get for a buck nowadays?
Where do ya think that technology came from?
That's just a small example.

 

[Sayantsi]

Spank. I can't ask governments to stop killing each other. They seem to like it. I just think all the duplication in research and science for space flight by all countries could be easier to combine than stopping wars. Besides if we simply moved those we don't like to another planet we wouldn't need armies would we?

Back when the cost of travel vs daily living was similar, we already tried that with America and Australia...

 

[DieselGeek]

In the words of Henry Rollins

" If Mars cant get me fed or laid F**K Mars ! "

A lot of what they do is cool and interesting , but there is a little that it does to make life better for the Vast majority of the human race.

Now that I think about it , that statement applies to most of the things that get a lot of funding nowadays .

 

[Irishguy]

All right, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, what has the Space Program ever done for us?

Demonic...

One Word...

TANG.

I rest my case.

 

[Kirkus51]

There were supposed to be a few more moon shots, but the cost was too much.

The 1st private contractor just launched their re-supply rocket to the Intl. Space Station today.

 

[Alaxtun]

Very serious question and not meant to pull political strings at all.

Given the dire conditions each county on earth now faces with burgeoning populations and limited resources to care for the people do you think it is time for a united effort, by all the earths governments, to pool resources and cooperate in finding another habital planet to migrate to?

Just reading about the costs needed to supply the international space station. You could feed, house, educate and care for a lot of earth's people with the money spent on just one flight to the station. And, we haven't gone beyond the moon yet with people. Mars rocks are cute but they don't feed folks.

Just a thought.

Well, you can pretty much attribute every single piece of badass tech we have right now to the innovations made in the 1960's space race. It might look like a waste of money but doing nearly impossible things like, well, everything in space forces us to invent, innovate and over all just make things here on earth better. Green energy was thought of as a result of space tech. Cell phones, again space tech. GPS...space tech. You name it it was innovated by space tech.


But as far as moving people to another planet to colonize...well we haven't done a very bang up job of keeping this planet up to snuff so what makes us think we can succeed on another planet that will in all likely hood be inferior to earth when we couldn't make earth (the most perfect habitat for humans) work out in the first place??

 

[wabill]

There are no Walmarts or Costcos in space. All the money spent by NASA, the ESA, Russia and the Chinese has been spent here on Earth. And that has created jobs that have fed millions of people.

 

[Demonic]

Can I just say I'm a bit upset that nobody got my Monty Python reference? Disappointed.

 

[9990]

I did. was just about to reply to IrishGuy and KD5QOQ about it.

"what have the Romans ever done for us??" -- probably the most quotable line. followed closely by "how many Romans???"

 

[Boldor]

Spank. I can't ask governments to stop killing each other.

If only they killed EACHOTHER. But they don't they kill everyone else.

Can I just say I'm a bit upset that nobody got my Monty Python reference? Disappointed.

Just 'cause I didn't acknowledge it doesn't mean I didn't get it. From now on I want to be called Loretta.