Uncomfortable about space exploration

29 replies

Spacerace2 · 23/08/2023 19:36

I’ll caveat this thread by saying this isn’t a pop at India but AIBU unreasonable to ask if it is right to spend so much on space exploration when so many on this planet live in abject poverty? Or is it right to try and find another planet whose resources we can exhaust?

OP posts:

Noicant · 23/08/2023 21:56

During the Industrial Revolution many in Britain were living in poverty but the advances raised living standards and eventually improved peoples lives more broadly.

Noicant · 23/08/2023 21:57

TheInterceptor · 23/08/2023 20:57

As to the OP - technology developed for space exploration trickles down for more earthy uses. Things such as oxygen therapy, metallurgy, heat shields, solar panels etc. have been vastly improved by the money and technological expertise in space travel. Learning how to grow food in less than optimal conditions is priceless.

Exactly!

Noicant · 23/08/2023 22:08

Also why waste bright minds doing something amazing? The alternative is to stay poor by global measures but everyone is fed today. Whereas in 200 years India may be something else entirely if it keeps focusing on innovating. I utterly despise Modi but he’s right, every scientific innovation is a human gain, not just a gain for a specific country.

Hawkins009 · 23/08/2023 22:15

We need to expand humanity to the stars and beyond.

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