Journey to the moon

Yes I think it's well worth it. There are people that say the money will be better spent here or there but the money spent will keep people in work in the factory's etc. We are losing jobs at such a rate due to AI that we need to keep people in jobs. No space program would have meant no cling film, no tin foil as well as hundreds of other things.

There are too many of us and we are running out of resources on this planet as Steven Hawkins said. To survive the human race has to find other worlds to live on.

CAT scans and MRI were not invented by NASA but were certainly enabled indirectly by space-age advances in computing and engineering. The NASA Apollo project ( which preceded the Artemis project) gave a massive impetus and large scale investment investment in: computing, electronics and materials science. Those advances spilled over into medicine. They led to sophisticated image processing techniques and better superconducting magnets. Without Apollo those advances might have been slower or never happened at all. I'm not sure everyone appreciates that the money isn't simply paying for a rocket but the salaries and research capabilities of thousands of engineers, scientists, medics and others, not just at NASA but throughout companies across the US. There is bound to be significant spin off from that. It's a pity the UK has only a minor part in that.

Exploration is all about discovering new resources that can be used for the benefit of mankind, everything we greedily consume today is a result of exploration. Some of it was discovered a century or more before it became useful, if Mars is useful to us it will have to be exploited by robots, it does not support life as we know it on earth.

The nearest potential life supporting planet with a temperate
climate is 22 Light Years away, maybe at some time in the future we will learn how to travel at or faster than the speed of light. In the meantime swanning around universe in the Starship Enterprise is just remote fantasy, so forgive me for being sceptical at the usefulness going back to the moon.

I completely agree with the views of Bluebelle, Kate and Maybee, I’m not against Space travel per se, and I do understand there are benefits BUT let’s sort out our own planet and people first, then look to wrecking exploring other planets.

David49

Sarnia

I am rather puzzled why it has taken over 50 years for the US to launch another rocket to the Moon. They were so pleased to have beaten the Russians tin the race to put a man on the Moon that I wonder why they did not capitalise on that.

Because they found there was nothing they could exploit, no useful resources, it was a vanity project ordered by Kennedy to prove to the Russians that they could. Space Shuttle failed to give cheaper solution.
Now we are back to vanity to prove they can beat the Chinese, maybe there are useful resources on other planets, if there are it's going to be so expensive to exploit them. Far better to use the effort to improve life on this planet.

Thanks for your answer David49. I wondered if the sheer cost of it all was unsustainable. And yes, there is so much in the US and this planet where $105b would be better spent. Testosterone fuelled men! Present company excepted.

Sarnia

I am rather puzzled why it has taken over 50 years for the US to launch another rocket to the Moon. They were so pleased to have beaten the Russians tin the race to put a man on the Moon that I wonder why they did not capitalise on that.

Because they found there was nothing they could exploit, no useful resources, it was a vanity project ordered by Kennedy to prove to the Russians that they could. Space Shuttle failed to give cheaper solution.
Now we are back to vanity to prove they can beat the Chinese, maybe there are useful resources on other planets, if there are it's going to be so expensive to exploit them. Far better to use the effort to improve life on this planet.

Ruin one world so find another and ruin that

I am rather puzzled why it has taken over 50 years for the US to launch another rocket to the Moon. They were so pleased to have beaten the Russians tin the race to put a man on the Moon that I wonder why they did not capitalise on that.

'Journey into Space' oh I remember listening to that!

They are going 'round the moon and due back Friday'

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wNCIL44838

Deedaa

I grew up listening to Journey Into Space before I went to bed. I couldn't not be interested now.

Pathfinders in Space and to Mars and Venus for me.

People with curiosity and intelligence and a sense of adventure will always want to push boundries to see what is out there. I think the crews on these journeys into space are so dedicated and brave, a lot have died within minutes of take off. When you think how much it costs and the good that could be done with the money, it does make you think again but in reality it would not be given to good causes and we do learn a lot. It would be my idea of hell going through the years of training to eventually cooped up in that rocket. I love to watch it on tv.

I understand this very expensive rocket is only going to circle the moon and then come back. Fairly pointless then.

But Trump will welcome it and its crew upon their return making it quite plain that the real star of the show is him.

Naturally.

And it will be lauded as a "big and beautiful" achievement for America.

Right - and then media attention can go back to scrutinising the Epstein scandal.......

I grew up listening to Journey Into Space before I went to bed. I couldn't not be interested now.

Space travel seems as remote as it did 50yrs ago, when we were promised holiday camps on the moon.

The cost for the US has decreased massively in 1966 it was a massive 4% of entire government spending, now it is 1/10 of that at 0.38%.

They have better computers now but astronauts are still sitting on a giant rocket. There will need to be quantum leap in space launching before manned travel further than the moon becomes possible.

I looked out the bedroom window last night at the moon, and thought about the space travellers who will soon be circling it.

My thought was “Rather them than me”.

I suppose the parallel is Columbus setting out across an uncharted ocean. Was America worth discovering. If course it was.

I think it's just daft. Just because we can, should we?

Similar thread on News and Politics.

Do you agree with this reply from the astronaut team; I would like to know your thoughts on their idea.

They seem to understand that when each rocket takes off it causes a lot of carbon. However, they seem to have the idea to have two planets would be worthwhile when earth gets too over crowded. They have the idea of being able to bring industry to the moon and exploration.

My thoughts too.

Oh Maybee how I agree. Let's sort this planet out before we go exploring another one. I do realise my views are those of an oldie.

ExactlyMayBee just my thoughts

I don’t understand why they want to find a way to live on Mars when we’re trashing the most beautiful planet in the universe. And that money could be used to reverse climate change etc.