Space Exploration - do we need it? - Page 4

I believe space exploration is an investment in the future of mankind. Agree with T. , Mythili and all fellow DM'ers who have researched and quoted articles citing benefits of space exploration. After all we are a part of this universe and should find out about the unknown frontier. Human needs exceed the resources we have and at any given point in time some one will find a better cause to spend the money on but looking back we have progressed remarkably well in science which has benefited mankind..

It is an R&D expense and has a seperate allocation and not taken from any other cause. Billions have been spent on medicine and diseases hence our life expentency being double from what it was a century or 2 ago.

As Tanaz compared voyages from the past to the space explorations, I am thankful to Columbus voyage as he set out for India and landed up in America!!!!.. Who knows what we will find in the space.Edited by lighthouse - 17 years ago

Originally posted by: abhijit shukla

 
It is cost effective to screen all women over 40 for breast cancer. It is not cost effective to screen all smokers for lung cancer.

 Dr. Abhijit... If smokers can afford to pay for the cigaretes let them pay for lung cancer test as well.. IMHO.

Is this a thing with sending people upto Moon/Mars?

1. The satellite's serve an important aspect of our everyday lives now and that is still a work in progress.They are a part of the space exploration process

2. We fast running out of resources on this planet

3. Most of the space programs are tied with a defense programs, and the defense side advantages are great.

4. One of these days one of these nutcases is going to blow off a nuclear weapon here on this planet(now we know we are not going to stop developing them), we would need another planet to live, dont we?

Every human is curious to what his/her surroundings are, Space exploration is another step outward that is it

Anyway I am curious to find out where some of the individuals really came from?

Edited by sareg - 17 years ago

Originally posted by: sareg

Is this a thing with sending people upto Moon/Mars?

Prsonally, I would prefer a trip to Venus 😆

Originally posted by: sareg

Anyway I am curious to find out where some of the individuals really came from?

Man has evolved from the primates. We didn't need space exploration to tell us that.

Originally posted by: T.

Space explorations are there for a good reason. Perhaps there are other planets which can also be inhabited by humans. Perhaps, these poor people can be rehabilitated there. Similar to how most of current day North America was settled by the English, French, Portugese, Spanish, etc. You may laugh at this argument, you may call it preposterous.

Your point is well made.

The only flaw is that as per the known laws of science, it would take impossibly long time even to travel outside our own solar system (which extends to about 2 light years from the sun), leave alone reaching the nearest star system Alpha Centauri which is 40,000,000,000,000 km away from us. It takes light, travelling at 300,000 km every second, more than 4 years to travel this distance.

And it is impossible for any material body to travel as fast as light. Faster-than-light travel happens only in Science Fiction. "Worm Holes" through space, though permitted by laws of Physics, are not something that man can create and control.

So the space explorer a la da Gama or Columbus is just not going to happen.

Sorry to disappoint and all that.

Originally posted by: Jatayu

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So the space explorer a la da Gama or Columbus is just not going to happen.

Sorry to disappoint and all that.

Jatayu I think u were the King in you previous birth who ordered the gallows for Galileo...😆

Originally posted by: TallyHo

Jatayu I think u were the King in you previous birth who ordered the gallows for Galileo...😆

Hey, that sounds cool ... gallows for Galileo.

Originally posted by: Jatayu

Hey, that sounds cool ... gallows for Galileo.

 But were u the King??...the cynic??😛

Originally posted by: Jatayu

Your point is well made.

The only flaw is that as per the known laws of science, it would take impossibly long time even to travel outside our own solar system (which extends to about 2 light years from the sun), leave alone reaching the nearest star system Alpha Centauri which is 40,000,000,000,000 km away from us. It takes light, travelling at 300,000 km every second, more than 4 years to travel this distance.

And it is impossible for any material body to travel as fast as light. Faster-than-light travel happens only in Science Fiction. "Worm Holes" through space, though permitted by laws of Physics, are not something that man can create and control.

So the space explorer a la da Gama or Columbus is just not going to happen.

Sorry to disappoint and all that.

moreover, there is plenty of land on earth still left vacant to occupy before mass-boarding of space shuttles. Furthermore, let us believe for a while, that we identified such a planet. 
Knowing that we are willing to shed blood for decades over strips of their land, who will willingly leave mother earth? On the other hand,  If it is so hunky dory on the other planet, who would miss the opportunity to leave the mother earth?  Thanks to our ancestors and us, we have been working steadily on destroying it so far.. 😕

Edited by mermaid_QT - 17 years ago

Can someone lock this topic and send Jatayuji, Tally and QT to Mars? I am going cuckoo reading all this.