Funks Challenge -1 of 3- Space - ends March 20th

[Midnyte_Ragebringer]

1- Space development/research, important or a waste of money?

[Aslanna]

Important. However I don't think things like a mission to the Mars or landing on the moon again (or for the first time) are really the best use of those project dollars at this time.

[Midnyte_Ragebringer]

Completely in favor of it and think it's very important. I'd like them to allow for privatized space exploration as well.

[Funkmasterr]

Important. However I don't think things like a mission to the Mars or landing on the moon again (or for the first time) are really the best use of those project dollars at this time.

I think it is extremely important, moreso than global warming or any other major issue we are posed with right now. I don't necessarily think landing on mars itself is a big deal, however developing the technology to do so is a big deal.

I watched a show on a theory someone had 20+ years ago to get to mars (he was a NASA scientist I believe), and his idea was shot down, not because they thought it wouldn't work but because the funding wasn't there. He continues to try and push his idea on his own but it has never taken off. The very basic idea is we send a two ships (with no human pilots) to Mars, 1 of them would be for the return flight, one of them would be to make the fuel. I can't remember the exact process to make the fuel but it was done by taking things from the Mars' atmosphere to do so. These two ships would be there for about 5 years before the ship with the astronauts would take off and head there.

Obviously I oversimplified the hell out of it, but it is a really cool concept to me.

The reason I think it is so important however is much more simple than that. Some time in the (I'm guessing not-so distant) future we are going to need to leave this planet no matter what we do to slow it down. It could be that a meteor or something else hits the planet, another ice age, war, etc that cause this, but at some point the Earth is going to be done with us and we are going to need to leave.

Space research is much like Animale is saying about research for an alternate fuel source. It is going to take decades at the very least (with proper funding) to get to the point where humans can live on another planet/in man made space colonies. More than likely it will be longer than that, but it won't be 500 hundred years away, it's not as unobtainable as some people seem to think.

Bottom line is this: if we wait too long and a situation arises and we have to leave the planet - it's not like a fire drill where everyone is out quick, and it will be too late. I think the major problem with space research and a big reason why it doesn't get the funding it needs to make developments is because people can't see the results/ROI in the immediate future, so to them it's not worth it.

Private corporations are starting to have a lot more to do with space research/development. There is already one company federally approved to run weightless commercial space flights, and investors will more than likely start to see the potential here after the first few pioneers show us all it can be done. However the government needs to open up it's regulations more and allow more private companies to do this.

[Animale]

There is actually quite a bit of cross-pollination possible between alternative energy and space science, as whatever long-term missions we have will need to have a source of energy that can be regenerated from simple products (i.e. solar to fuel/power or fusion). The strength of space research in general is engineering prowess, so they aren't the best equipped to make new discoveries but instead are best at actually implementing new ideas. Fortunately, like most research, it is the "spin-off" technologies where the real value often lies, not in the actual target of the research. Science is kind of weird that way, and space science has been one of the most fertile areas for this.

Now, I'm basically in favor of across the board increases in scientific research, and space can and should be a reasonable part of that. Should it be priority number 1, probably not. But is it in the top 5-10, hell yeah.

Animale

[Noysyrump]

Hmmm... see answer to global warming thread.