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.

I have no problem with them using a tank full of hydrogen - literally the most common element in the universe - to do this.

What is a crying shame is that the Artemis rocket uses four RS-25 engines and then just throws them away. They're the engines built for the Space Shuttle and were always designed to be fully re-usable. What a waste.

Don't be ridiculous, the moon is uninhabited.
Space people come from another galaxy. You dont know them.

Jolly good idea. Do you think we could persuade Trump to join him?

You’re baffled by the fact that humans, since the beginning of history, have been driven by exploration and discovery?

Humans have no higher purpose than to pursue knowledge and new frontiers.

Why can't they get a really big elastic band. We all pull it back and THWIP up they go. Getting back more problematic but I'm sure they'll figure something out.

According to a piece I read yesterday there is £100 billion ‘lunar economy’ up for grabs.

It’s completely different being able to view our insignificance from a position of relative comfort. I’m sure there are many people in the world feeing insignificant and forgotten, who won’t be marvelling at our ability to explore space, because they’re too tied up worrying about their own survival.

I am fascinated by space travel and the universe. I wish i had been arouind during the Apollo program and the moon landings. Mum often spoke about every body being glued to TVs. And the whole thing of trying to get Apollo 13 back to earth.
I am not even into SciFi. But the the space program I find amazing

Nah, it just gives more people the opportunity to mess up the environment with a load of plastic mattresses and power tools they don't need and creates bickering over who gets to fuck up space.

Covid was a 'stark reminder' of what is important. Everyone was going to take a step back, enjoy themselves, spend time on what was important, acquire less. And here we are.

I remember sitting on the gym floor in school to watch the first moon landings. It was my trial day at infants.

All the kids were bored to tears.

People are bored with going to the moon. They lost interest very quickly after the moon landings of Apollo 11, which was admittedly pretty fantastic.

By Apollo 13, they'd lost interest, which was only reignited when the mission went wrong ('Houston, we have a problem').

I agree with you, OP. Let's sort out this planet before we set about ruining another.

@Mummyoflittledragon

Credit: Ben Jennings from Yesterdays Grauniad.

Interesting. My mum got me and my sister up in the night to watch it. We weren't very impressed by it, but my mum was really exited. Looking back, it was pretty impressive, especially as it was all pre-computer.

It's good to know that some countries have more money than sense.
We colonise the moon in time to come and we can fuck up another planet, oh happy days.🙄

The Apollo missions absolutely relied on computers and couldn't have happened without them. There were several in the rocket itself plus lots on the ground that were vital for each flight. The need for compact and lightweight computers that could be flown in space helped advance computer technology in general.

The moon is not a planet, it is a satellite of Earth.

Why do it? Human endeavour? Because one day Earth will not be viable for life and if every generation takes the view 'why bother', there is no future.

I'm old enough to remember the Apollo programme and to have seen the first Moon landings as they happened. Of all the crap things humans have done, space exploration isn't one of them. There is something deeply united in the fellowship and respect between astronauts and cosmonauts that shows how things could be.

@PistachioTiramisu satellite or planet doesn’t mean we can’t fuck it up.

I see no issue with colonising other worlds
Why not.

And your point is?

Innovation and technological change will benefit us

Really?????

Ok, my point is people saying they don’t see the point of space travel lack the imagination, or intelligence as has just become clear, to see what the future benefits might be.

Investing in space travel drives technology forwards. You may as well be saying let’s not invest in anything new.

I do get the argument that we are spending resources on leaving the planet when we could be spending them fixing the many issues we have here already. But we should really dedicate resources to both.

Now spending our precious resources on defence, weapons and fighting each other in pointless wars that’s another story…

I think it's ridiculous. Like a lot of science experiments, just because we can, doesn't mean we should. People can see the end goal, but what about the cost?

Who will own the Moon?
Will wars be waged over the Moon?
Will people on the Moon revolt against Earth?

Space is completely inhospitable to humans - no atmosphere, no soil, extreme radiation, unhealthy gravity. We should concentrate on keeping our planet healthy right now.

Is it nothing but some rich men's personal fantasy.

Probably 5 is a bit young