Space Exploration News

I think a lasting human presence on the moon will likely be mostly scientific in nature, like how it is now with the ISS. I imagine we won't have a bunch of people up there to do manual labor.

 

There will be much automation, just as there is getting to be more here on Earth. (coincidentally, I'm in the automation business) But there will always be the need for humans to do "stuff", as robotics still have limitations and sometimes can't do what a human can.
This is a fascinating topic for me, I hope it is for many others!

 

No doubt there will be a lot of automation developed specifically for doing things on the moon, and later on Mars! It should open up a lot of new engineering opportunities.

 

A huge Chinese rocket will likely crash down this weekend - but no one knows where

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/...=857693951420692326&utm_medium=Email Sailthru


Be on the alert

 

Astronomers spent decades looking for objects from outside our own solar system. Then two arrived at once. When should we expect the next one? And what can they teach us?

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/...S-213-[BBC News Newsletter]-2021May7-[future]

 

Debris from rocket launched by China reenters Earth's atmosphere, lands in the Indian Ocean

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/...=857693951420692326&utm_medium=Email Sailthru

 

NASA spacecraft detects a constant 'hum' deep in the cosmos

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/spa...=857693951420692326&utm_medium=Email Sailthru

Interesting...

 

Why? How will the world improve for people from such a waste of money?

 

The same thing could have been said about every advance in technology since the invention of the wheel! End of the day no-one will know what benefits arise from a permanent manned presence on the Moon until its been given a chance to prove itself. The payback could be enormous or alternately (unlikely IMO) it might not. Point is we wont know until it is attempted.

 

VERY interesting! Thanks for the find. There is so much to learn about the universe. What actually is "space" made of? We will know one day (the human race, not actually us, maybe you if you're young enough, lol)

 

I disagree. There was a clear use for the wheel. Putting people on the moon has no stated purpose. They appear to be doing it because they can. Not a good use for my money.

 

You are so right!! It is the knowledge that we gain that enhances us as humans. Knowledge is enlightenment. Knowledge is also power.
Knowledge satisfies mans quest and curiosity. It is hard to put a value on knowledge.

 

Well for a start radio and conventional astronomy - safe from the 'noise' pollution produced in those frequencies back on Earth. Then there's the manufacturing of fuel and construction materials for space industry in the Earth/Lunar system that would be cheaper to launch as needed than the equivalent mass from Earth. Things like water, iron for steel, titanium and aluminum plus plenty of solar energy to power extraction and processing.

 

Same as Antarctica I suppose. They could just put robots there?

 

The other thing we need to get done is to implement a properly instituted international rules based system, and decriminalize war as a means of dispute settlement between nations.

That requires abandoning the current obsolete ideology of absolute national sovereignty because.... China's technological mastery is now such that it can develop its own AI and IT, and is well on the way to surpassing the US economy, despite every barrier the paranoid West is throwing in China's path.

So: you mentioned the human race...yes, we - as a species - better lift our game if we are going to survive long enough to master inter-planetary space flight, in an age of MAD.

 

Skip the robots. Leave the penguins alone. There are better uses for money, particularly when it is printed out of thin air.

 

We can't afford frivolity. We can't even afford what we are doing now.

 

By skipping (say) Antartica, you are skipping science.

 

We've always afforded 'frivolity' if we hadn't we'd still be living in caves. Every single 'out of left field' idea that payed off for humanity started off was 'frivolous', i.e not particle, not worth the risk, wont pay off etc etc etc.

 

I'm OK with frivolity when we have the money to pay for it. If we have to borrow the money or create it out of the blue, it is corrupt and incompetent. We have to borrow and print money to much of what we do on a day to day basis. Sorry. We have way too much government. This is something we can eliminate without hurting anything.

 

What science are skipping? How does it make life better in America?

 

Science in Antarctica, like science on the moon, on Mars and in the depth of the oceans
helps the pursuit of science. And science gives us our wealth and prosperity. Wealth and
prosperity lead to the pursuit of democracy and political engagement because we have
leisure and education.

 

I was assuming you understood that I was looking for something specific. If you want to use government funds for scientific experimentation then you need to wait for a time when we aren't borrowing or printing money to make ends meet. Or turn it over to the private sector.

 

The private sector has its place. It's not funding or organizing scientific endeavors. The private sector is better at designing and building needed technology for doing the science.

You can't have a privately funded NASA, for instance, because its need to turn a profit would not allow it to do anything of public interest unless the federal government contracted to pay it at least as much as it's getting now anyway.

 

Big science needs to be done by government. Examples include the Large Hadron Collider
and the International Space Station.
Sure, just printing money is a problem, and we recognize that (to varying degrees) but that's
outside my knowledge.