To think millions of litres of fuel shouldn't be wasted on sending a rocket to the moon

[Viviennemary]

With this current fuel crisis it's total madness sending a rocket to the moon. What is the point. Nobody is even going to land on the moon. Doubt therei s any oil on the moon.

Well I think it's fantastic, inspiring in fact. Humans have wanted to go to space forever. It is one of the only things that unites us as a species.
Artemis II will have on board the first woman to go beyond low earth orbit. It will send humans the furthest away from earth that himans have ever been. How can that be a waste? It's an incredible achievement. You may as well say that the Olympics are a waste, or any scientific research that doesn't immediately have a payout. How about books and music while we're at it, what a waste of time!
People talking about "putting men in tin cans" and "boys toys" have no idea how crucial women have been to the progress of space science since the very beginning. It's sad and disappointing that women on here think space exploration is just an ego trip for blokes.

We have to start exploring space and thinking of our existence beyond Earth at some point.

We'll be approaching a global population of 10 or 11 billion by 2100 and the Earth simply cant sustain those numbers. The planet is in crisis and we're running out of resources. Many parts of the world will become uninhabitable due to climate change and non-salinated water will be like gold is now.

If we dont start to colonise space now, we never will as it's never a good time. Sad but true.

I was a bit stupid to rush and think satellites did all international calls. But they do help with communication. GPS saves lives. And some remote calls use satellites.

Funnily enough when it comes to voice calls cables are actually better than geosynchronous satellites. Geosync satellites are so high up that there's a significant round-trip delay. There's a delay with the transatlantic cables, too, but it's not as much even though the light going through the cable travels slower than the radio waves going to the satellites.

That was awesome. I don’t care what anybody says!

Why are you doing that, then?

It may be a shock to you but you are not the only person on Earth.

Watching the clip now, a bit delayed so Ik it goes well but love the language of it.

Because for a few minutes in my day I can.

Life's rich tapestry.

I just wouldn't miss it if it wasn't here.

I'm not speaking on anyone else's behalf. Only my own.

Thank Goodness the rich can escape earth, unlike the rest of us who have to stay on this rathole handing over most of our fucking earnings to them! Sadly, this kind of attitude is why people question the ethics of space travel- bad behaviour around exploitation of an unregulated resource by the richest of folk!

But that's how lots of transport started. Plane travel to other countries used only be for the super-rich, 40 years later you could fly to Rome for a tenner! Things get cheaper as technology develops.

Hand over earnings to them? What about all the people they employ?

Enjoy your solipsism.

That's how I feel about fast fashion and energy drinks. Each to their own I guess.

That is very much an oversimplification. For a start from 1996 to 2025, the percentage of the UK economy by wages has dropped significantly from 62% in 1996 to 36 % in 2025. Where do you think that money has gone? The erosion of the Middle-classes, the gigantic wealth gap. It is not sustainable or morally acceptable but who cares if you're rich hey!

Speaking from one's own point of view is a different thing from solipsism.

Having my own view on things doesn't mean I exist entirely in my own world.
I'm very much part of society but don't chose to speak on its behalf.

I don't expect everyone to share my view. In fact I know they don't.
Live and let live.

It's very relaxing. You should try it.

Why would there be oil on the moon? Oil is made from dead animals/algae/bacteria. There is no evidence that animals/algae/bacteria have ever existed on the moon

Sure it’s a small % overall, but they’ve just spunked $2-3B on a moon launcher that will not be used. It was to launch large payloads to the moon and now they’ve decided to send smaller payloads. The subcontractor building it got the news last week to stop.

for context to provide free school meals for all in my state would be $40m.

that kind of waste is infuriating.

They should have made the effort to put a woman on the moon.

This has not happened yet !

Well that was never going to happen during the Apollo era for all sorts of reasons that people have argued about for decades.

There was no subsquent programme that would have provided that opportunity up until now.

On a happier note you can pretty much bet your house on it being a woman taking the first steps on the first actual Artemis landing mission, planned now to be Artemis IV, supposedly flying sometime in 2028.

Bit of a spurious argument, though, when you consider the things that were invented before space travel, without which space travel itself could not have happened.

The origins of all those inventions you mentioned are rooted in much earlier technological advancements. Actually, a surprising number of the Inventions commonly attributed to NASA were not, in fact, invented for space travel. Space travel was where they found a purpose, yes, and it can be argued that NASA's development was a springboard for wider use, but in fact, the primary reason NASA (and, of course, other space programs) have developed the technology is that they had the money to do it. It would be nice to think that the further development of water filtration systems would have come about because the huge investment put into going into space had actually been redirected into funding the development of such systems for those without a clean supply on earth. We didn't need to go to space to do it, the ideas were already there, it's just not quite such a showstopping thing to pour tonnes of money into, is it?

If 2028 goes ahead, it will happen then. I think this crew are the basis of that expedition, all excellently qualified and experienced, but obviously things change. Pretty certain there will be at least one woman though.

It's amazing . We've got live feed from the mission on two big screens on the office wall at work. They are normally for zoom calls and stuff or testing adverts etc. Couple of our bosses are huge space nuts.

As comedienne Sarah Milligan said "Only problem with women on the moon that I see , is no takeaways or shops..." 🤣
"Probably be bored after two hours and go and watch The Housewives of New Delhi back in the luna lander!" 😂😂😂

Obviously she's joking. They are already thinking about an all female mission to Mars as ladies are small & needy less supplies etc.