The Space Programme?

[USincognito]

The point I am making is that the space programme is spending trillions of dollars and will ultimately achieve nothing of value.

There are people browsing the Internet on their phones that can do so because of the space program.

NASA and ESA solar observation satellites help to predict solar weather.

There are hundreds of economic and scientific benefits that have come from the space program.
NASA - Tang, Teflon, Velcro

 

[ruthiesea]

The point I am making is that the space programme is spending trillions of dollars and will ultimately achieve nothing of value.

I’m guess that you can see into the future. If there were more people like you we would still be rubbing sticks together for fire.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

I’m guess that you can see into the future. If there were more people like you we would still be rubbing sticks together for fire.

I tried that and it didn't work for me.
Using the ant example:
Even with the speed of light, we are not going to travel to the next "blade of grass" to enable to gain any idea of the whole "lawn" (our galaxy with its billions of stars), or the "world" (the universe with its trillions of galaxies).

 

[Speedwell]

I tried that and it didn't work for me.
Using the ant example:
Even with the speed of light, we are not going to travel to the next "blade of grass" to enable to gain any idea of the whole "lawn" (our galaxy with its billions of stars), or the "world" (the universe with its trillions of galaxies).

But we're sure finding out more about the Earth and the rest of the Solar System than we would have otherwise. Plus, we can learn more about the rest of the universe from outside the Earth's atmosphere than from on the surface.

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

Space programme' inventions we use in our daily life:

- memory foams
- baby formulas
- dustbusters
- space blankets
- freeze drying
- cochlear implants
- camera phones
- scratch-resistant glasses
- LEDs
- athletic shoes
- water purification systems
- wireless headsets
- smoke detectors
- artificial limbs
- portable computers
- satellite TVs
- teflon
- insuline pumps,
- GPS, Glonass, Galileo systems
- more precise weather forecast and efficient agricultural management thanks to data from satellites

... and many others. The most precious is, of course, the knowledge about the universe, about our planet, about our atmosphere and about our solar system which is used in endless number of ways in various areas of our life.

A litany of specious nonsense. Very little actual advances in consumer goods have come from the space programme. The most famous ones like Velcro or Teflon are outright lies. Velcro had been around since 1941, when a Swiss engineer invented it after seeing how certain plant seeds hooked passing animals, for instance. Cochlear implants, artificial limbs, baby formula and other medical advancements have little to do with it at all. Many of these products were often popularised by the Space programme, but that just makes it an annual 5 billion dollar advertising campaign. Outside of telecommunication, there is precious little to justify the massive cost.

I have attached an article from ISECG, a consortium of 15 Space Agencies arguing for its benefits. You'll see none of these flashy claims, just ideas such as 'inspiring' or 'educational like PhDs' and the like. The chief claim to fame is discovering supposed 'secrets of the universe' or in known communication benefits of space travel, and connections to other practical improvements are either tenuous in the extreme, or mere popularisations.

 

[klutedavid]

The space programme reminds me of an ant crawling up a blade of grass, calling out to the other ants, "I'm exploring the world!" when they haven't even started exploring the lawn!!

The space program is a small segment of the scientific world we live in and a relatively innocent part of the larger advancements.

Science has given us labor saving devices and now we are fat and unfit.

Science has enabled us to destroy life on this planet at an ever increasing rate, nearly all species are under threat.

Science has given us accelerating climate change.

Science has been instrumental in eradicating all forms of employment both blue collar and white collar employment.

Science gave us nuclear weapons to play with and I am still struggling with that.

Science gave us artificial ingredients and now almost everything I eat has no natural ingredients. That includes chocolate of course.

Science has enabled people to live far too long and now the population of the planet. Will soon exceed the ability of the planet to sustain us.

The advancement of communication technology has been astounding and everyone has their faces buried in their phone.

Science is a wonderful thing.

 

[Carl Emerson]

The space program is a small segment of the scientific world we live in and a relatively innocent part of the larger advancements.

Science has given us labor saving devices and now we are fat and unfit.

Science has enabled us to destroy life on this planet at an ever increasing rate, nearly all species are under threat.

Science has given us accelerating climate change.

Science has been instrumental in eradicating all forms of employment both blue collar and white collar employment.

Science gave us nuclear weapons to play with and I am still struggling with that.

Science gave us artificial ingredients and now almost everything I eat has no natural ingredients. That includes chocolate of course.

Science has enabled people to live far too long and now the population of the planet. Will soon exceed the ability of the planet to sustain us.

The advancement of communication technology has been astounding and everyone has their faces buried in their phone.

Science is a wonderful thing.

While there is a lot of truth in this, it is in fact Man rather than science that is responsible for these side effects of endevours fueled by prideful intellects... and backed by commercial greed.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

While there is a lot of truth in this, it is in fact Man rather than science that is responsible for these side effects of endevours fueled by prideful intellects... and backed by commercial greed.

Soon they won't be able to get out of Earth's orbit because of the increasing space junk that is floating around.

Also one big hindrance to getting beyond the moon to Mars and beyond is the powerful cosmic radiation that is fatal to humans. They have not been able to solve that problem yet, and I am not sure they know how to in the future.

 

[Strathos]

Informative video about why NASA needs funding

 

[klutedavid]

While there is a lot of truth in this, it is in fact Man rather than science that is responsible for these side effects of endevours fueled by prideful intellects... and backed by commercial greed.

Without science we are unable to devastate the planet, scientific advancement alone will be responsible for our extinction.

 

[Belk]

Oh look, Neo Luddites.

 

[FireDragon76]

Exploration is a basic part of human nature.

Neal Armstrong secretly took the Sacrament of Holy Communion to the Moon in Apollo 11. It was kept a secret because the US government didn't want negative publicity about it following complaints about previous missions. Armstrong was a devout Presbyterian.

 

[Dynadin]

Some of the comments remind me of a line from a rather popular play.
""It frightens me to think of the state of learning in the world if everybody had your driving curiosity"

 

[klutedavid]

Oh look, Neo Luddites.

There is a marked difference between the Luddites and the Inquisitor!

 

[HitchSlap]

The point I am making is that the space programme is spending trillions of dollars and will ultimately achieve nothing of value.

NASA's budget is .49% of the entire budget.

 

[FireDragon76]

NASA's budget is .49% of the entire budget.

Some people would rather that money were spent on a "big, beautiful wall", no doubt.

 

[HitchSlap]

Soon they won't be able to get out of Earth's orbit because of the increasing space junk that is floating around.

Also one big hindrance to getting beyond the moon to Mars and beyond is the powerful cosmic radiation that is fatal to humans. They have not been able to solve that problem yet, and I am not sure they know how to in the future.

 

[HitchSlap]

Some people would rather that money were spent on a "big, beautiful wall", no doubt.

Exactly.

 

[klutedavid]

Exactly.

What the money should have been spent on is no longer important. What is important is that we cannot now avoid extinction, it is too late.

 

[FireDragon76]

The space program is a small segment of the scientific world we live in and a relatively innocent part of the larger advancements.

Science has given us labor saving devices and now we are fat and unfit.

Science has enabled us to destroy life on this planet at an ever increasing rate, nearly all species are under threat.

Science has given us accelerating climate change.

Science has been instrumental in eradicating all forms of employment both blue collar and white collar employment.

Science gave us nuclear weapons to play with and I am still struggling with that.

Science gave us artificial ingredients and now almost everything I eat has no natural ingredients. That includes chocolate of course.

Science has enabled people to live far too long and now the population of the planet. Will soon exceed the ability of the planet to sustain us.

The advancement of communication technology has been astounding and everyone has their faces buried in their phone.

Science is a wonderful thing.

It's simplistic to lay the blame on science for those things. Science is merely a method, not an ideology that necessarily determines values.