To find Space and Astronauts really boring

[PattyDuckface]

Just that really. In my workplace there is a bunch of influential people who are really excited about Space and the potential of exploration, the idea of going there blows their mind and there's a lot of energy and excitement about it. If you don't like it then you probably won't be thought of as intelligent or interesting.

Unfortunately for my career I just couldn't care less. I have tried to care but it gives me that cold, bored, uneasy feeling that I used to get on a Sunday evening.

We should be doing all these things, but we can't predict all existential risks. Having all our eggs in one basket is a poor long term strategy.

I'm an introvert who works in a people facing environment but I'm also an introvert so when people people too much (are tiresome and demanding) I just want to hide under the office desk and not come out.

Why do we do jobs we probably don't have the interest or skills in ?

I also find space boring, but I love biology and nature. Each to their own.

I'm similar OP, although I recently watched a TV series called "For All Mankind". It's about what would have happened if the Russians got to the moon first (and also a woman first!)

It's got some great themes, especially around feminism, family life (a lot about the families of astronauts working at NASA), and it makes it all much more relatable, human and interesting.

I think the science can be complicated and make it feel inaccessible, but this show has sparked a bit more curiosity in me for sure. I recommend it!

I’m not massively interested but have a child who had space as their ‘thing’ for a number of years and as such ended up knowing more than any lay person reasonably should know about space. Thankfully child has no moved on to other interests….

I can’t agree. Exploring and asking how the world - or universe - works is what we do.

Curing cancer is another worthy goal, not an exclusive one.

Space exploration is about saving this planet, though.

As PP have said, a lot of it is about spotting/ diverting asteroids, learning more about the atmosphere and what surrounds the planet we live on. That is all kind of important for the future of humanity.

The vast majority of it isn't about just 'exploring' for the sake of it or trying to find little green men. It's about improving our lives on earth. To do that you have to reach and understand what's beyond.

Not to be dramatic, but if we don't have a planet then there will be no point curing canceer!

I can see how someone might have things in their life that they are even more interested in and passionate about, that they are not really interesting in talking or learning more about it, but I don't really see how anyone can find it boring. Boring is listening to a dry lecture, putting the bins out or the last hour in work. It's surprised me really, this thread.

I agreed with you until I went to see a Dark Space Planetarium at a local school. I imagine it moves round different places . Lots of hand on stuff and a dome cinema thing discussing possibility of life on other planets. Suddenly I find it interesting. Not so much rockets and spacemen but the pictures of other planets were fascinating, evidence of water etc

Also sadly this fact - Scientific models estimate the total number of space debris objects in Earth orbit to be in the order of: 29,000 - for sizes larger than 10 cm 670,000 - for sizes larger than 1 cm

I'm not bored. I'm incensed at huge amounts of money being spent, lots of environmental harm done every time there is a rocket launch, on ridiculous claim we could live on other "clean pure" planets. It's like Americas colonisation by Puritans all over again.

I enjoy science fiction; it's an interesting curiousity if life exists on other planets but humans will almost certainly never find out if extraterriestrial life exists and I personally for certain will never know. We people have such a track record of destroying our environment, we will be lucky if human species still exists in 300 years.

We have ONE planet suited for us to live on. FGS, work on making this a nice safe place to live. Stop wasting time and money and causing actual environmental damage in name of pursuing ridiculously stupid ideas like colonising other planets.

I'm not particularly interested in Space, but it's good that so many people are. Space exploration has meant huge numbers of "inventions" have been made that have far reaching benefits in so many other ways.

You can't say that you havn't benefitted. After all, mobile phone and TV signals are beamed around the World by satellites that are "in Space", we get our weather forecasts from weather satellites that are in Space. Robotic disability aids are based on research done for Astronauts as are microwave ovens.

More recent developments are remote monitoring of health and medical conditions (i.e. people on Earth monitoring health of astronauts in Space), which is starting to drive remote monitoring in normal life so that patients with some medical conditions don't need to be in hospitals and don't need "close contact" with doctors and nurses to monitor them.

Quite simply, a huge number of "modern" technological advancements in normal life have started from Space/Astronaut scientists. To get people into Space, we needed to be inventive, and what the space scientists learned and developed has been widely incorporated into and driven so many things in normal life for normal people.

https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/Benefits-Stemming-from-Space-Exploration-2013-TAGGED.pdf

@Kazzyhoward Do I see another space/comms writer there, or just an enthusiast?!

I think some people forget how useful satellites are for things like disaster recovery after earthquakes etc, or for enabling e learning and telemedicine in remote villages with no fibre or cellular coverage. Satellite IoT is enhancing productivity and profitability for farmers in Africa, giving them a better quality of life while supporting the global food supply chain. And closer to home, GPS for Google maps which many use frequently, deliveroo, etc.

Space is not a passion for me, it's just work, but there's no denying it's enhanced everyday life for us all. Space exploration is another matter though - not a passion, and I'm yet to see the benefits beyond inspiring younger generations into STEM.

yes that is important, but having spaceships ready and available to prevent life on earth being wiped out by an asteroid is also important

I think space is cool, and I love like a planetarium show - mostly just because the scale of everything is so massive and its quite pretty

The actual science of it and the distances and the maths parts- personally very boring, glad other people love it so I can see their photos. I feel the same about mountain climbers and divers- I'm sure its very cool but the technical aspects and processes are not interesting but the photos are really good.

Same. I find them so boring I can't even watch them for 5 minutes.

My favourite space fact is the one o recently heard, that nasa asked if 100 tampons was enough for a week in space for one woman.

Ride said: “I remember the engineers trying to decide how many tampons should fly on a one-week flight; they asked, ‘Is 100 the right number?’”

www.poynter.org/tfcn/2021/did-nasa-send-a-woman-to-space-with-100-tampons/

^Space makes me feel distinctly uneasy.

There's just so MUCH of it.^

Same. I've always been a little scared of space, and oceans. It's a sort of fear of vastness. I also find it fairly boring- and I'm married to someone with a PhD in space robotics.

“As I looked out into the night sky, across all those infinite stars, it made me realize how insignificant they are.”
― Peter Cook

Space travel doesn't excite me as such.

But finding out about space fascinates me, calms me, grounds me - makes me realise my problems are so small and fleeting.

I actually would really recommend space documentaries to people struggling with anxiety.

Satellites that have practical purposes here on Earth - yes. Long distance telescopes to help understand how the universe works - sure, why not. Asteroid deflection sounds important too.

But the idea that we should just give up on saving this planet because a few thousand elite could move to Mars, live in domes and recycle their urine? I feel like anyone suggesting that doesn’t understand anything about life on Earth (ecological or human) and how extraordinary what we have inherited here is.

If they made space dog friendly I bet a lot of mumsnetters would suddenly be REALLY interested 😂😂😂

I agree op. I always wish that the doubtlessly clever scientists involved in space travel would turn their efforts to solving droughts, or other earthly problems and wonder how much good could be done. Space travel feels like a decadent waste of time and resources when people on our planet still still lack access to fresh water/ vaccinations/ food etc.

There was an advert for a water charity I think recently along those lines and it had a real impact on my dc

@Nimbostratus100 I do see your point, but since I don't have any children and am unlikely to have them now, honestly no I don't on a personal level especially care about extinction level asteroids either. Certainly not on as day to day level as I am doing battle with the printer. In half a century or so I'll be gone along with every trace I was ever here 🤷🏻‍♀️

(Just to confirm for the absence of doubt; I am being relatively light-hearted here and in my previous post. I don't give much thought to space on a regular basis, but it's great that people do, and are passionate and incredibly smart and making things happen. Meanwhile us earthly warriors will keep the paper-jams from taking over).

I get sad at the thought of human beings trashing another planet in the same way we've trashed Earth 😢

I love anything to do with space. As a species, we are explorers and space is the next step. That urge to explore is so deep within some people that they want to travel and learn even knowing the risk of death is high.
It's been like that throughout history.