how important is it that we continue to develope space travel?

Question

So many really great and well-thoughtout answers. thank you.

Answer 1

It depends on the likelihood of an extinction level event occuring within humanity's time on Earth. If you would like to make the assumption that humanity's destiny is to live on the Earth forever...

Well, needless to say that according to science, forever is not going to happen, an extinction level event is simply a matter of time... not 'if'.

So in order for us to continue our legacy, a biological imperative, we need to defend ourselves from the potential planet-threatening variables out there that would potentially destroy us.

Space travel is one of those contingencies that would allow humanity the opportunity to start again.

In addition, there is another benefit to space travel... Exploring and conquering the problems with space travel has given us remarkable technologies that have every day applications.

Do some research and discover all the technologies that we now take for granted but had it's origins in space exploration. Space is the most hostile environment we can imagine... if we can survive there, we can survive anywhere.

Answer 2

It's critical for humanity's long-term survival. Technology is neutral; it can be used for both good and evil. So as our technological capabilities increase, some people will do great things with our new technology while others-- either purposefully or inadvertently-- will do damaging things. As our capabilities increase, though, the damage that can be done becomes ever more potentially catastrophic and eventually even world-ending or life on earth-ending. The only way I see around this is for humanity to explore space and develop the ability to colonize others places in the cosmos. That way when the earth is destroyed by nuclear weapons or environmental devastation or life on earth is destroyed by genetic experimentation gone awry or nanobots sent to destroy functioning red blood cells then at least we will be in other places where we'll have some hope to continue surviving. Otherwise the long-term hopes for humanity don't look so good.

Answer 3

Space travel is important for a number of reasons, however I believe that we need to limit it. Space travel should not have near as high of a budget as we currently have allocated. It should be something that we invest in, and do so safely but not with nearly the investment that we put into it, however we cannot undo what has been done, so we may as well use the current budget to research the other options, cause as others have said, one day earth will be uninhabitable, and we will need to be able to "move" off the earth. The problem that this causes, what if something not only happens to earth but to other planets as well? And will humans be smart enough to preserve the next planet or will we destroy it as well?

Answer 4

Very important for many reasons.

1. Space Colonization - For the human race to secure its foothold in this universe we need to colonize space. Right now all of our eggs are in 1 basket "earth". A catastrophy here on our planet can theoretically wipe us out.

2. Exploration/Discovery - Without space travel it would be difficult for us to discover some of the wonders the universe has developed. We would never find out if there are life forms in the oceans of Europa, previously undiscovered elements on the surface of Titan, or a new fuel source in the clouds of Venus. (These are all hypothetical by the way).

3. In millions of years the sun will swell to a size that engulfs our planet. If we don't develop space travel to the degree it would take to move all of our people off of the planet by that time (or move the entire planet itself) our race again would be goners. (This relates to point number 1 above).

4. Patriotisim - If we (USA) don't become leaders in space travel, some other country will like China, Russia, or the European Union.

Answer 5

From 1 to 10. Ten being the most important.
I give it a 1.
It is a frivolous waste of money and resources. Money that could solve a lot of problems in this country.
Pissing it away on eggheads so they can play space cadets is not my idea of intelligent behavior.
Spending billions on miniature toys creeping along on a red desert snapping pictures for the delight of the elite in Houston while Americans are jobless, hungry and without medical coverage.
Why Americans allow this crap to continue year after year is beyond me.
Perhaps someday the little people will wake up and throw these butt wipes out of congress that vote for the appropriations that fund this folly.

Answer 6

Survival of the species depends on it. Without the ability to travel safely, quickly, and effectively in space:

1. We will be wiped out by a killer asteroid.

Space travel directed at warding off killer asteroids is feasible with today's technology. But NASA and Congress just a few weeks ago funded a program to develop that technology into a killer asteroid shield.

2. We will run out of resources to exploit and subsequently perish.

Today's technology is not sufficient for gathering resources from other planets in our solar system. But NASA, through its Mars and Moon landing programs, is working the technology issues. However, the economics issues are yet to be addressed and resolved (e.g., what would it cost to mine Mars or the Moon, and how much would consumers be charged).

Answer 7

Other answers have given more than adequate reasons for going in for space travel research. My short and simple reasons is 'if it is there we must go there. May be the whole thing will come to naught and when we reach the outermost recesses of the universe we may find that after all we are alone in the wide universe.Doesn't matter.We can then sleep peacefully and not be disturbed by nightmares of flying saucers and aliens.Our future generations will thank us for it.

Answer 8

Think of it this way....
Right now all our eggs are in one basket, the Earth.
If a big ol' comet came along and smashed into us, our entire species could very possibly be wiped out forever....
Think about that.
We need to colonize other worlds to ensure that the human race will survive indefinitely, but I'm not so sure that is a good idea anymore. We have so much potential and yet we are so petty and violent. Maybe the universe would be better off without us.

Answer 9

This is very important, for the USA and for the human race in general, but keep in mind - we've barely begun developing space travel, in an important respect: we've never made it a priority to develop low-cost access to orbit.

There are no two ways about it. Making reliable vehicles that can ship people and cargo to orbit is is a very challenging engineering problem.

But the Shuttle was never designed to bring the cost of space access down. Yes, it's true - the Shuttle's first "mission" was to employ the huge establishment NASA had left over from Apollo. It does this very well.

There was never any serious effort to thoroughly explore the technologies of affordable orbital access, and by explore I mean make prototypes - what are known in aerospace as "X-planes" - and actually see how the flight performance of the design.

What would we get from such a capability?

Thousands of billions of watts of solar electricity, delivered 24 hours a day, 365 days a year (minus a percent or so of downtime);

Billions of dollars worth of metals in just one 1 km M-class asteroid - of which there are thousands in the Solar System;

For the nation that sponsors these technologies, a tremendous positive boost to their balance of trade. If we in the USA became serious about space industry, for instance, we'd become a net energy exporter, and seize a hard-to-beat advantage for our manufacturing sector.

(But of course this last point would apply to any nation that succeeded in its space industrialization.)

And an economic basis for settling human beings elsewhere in the Solar System, thereby making our species - and life itself - less vulnerable to extinction.

For further points to consider, please see the link below.

Answer 10

Have you read the news today? I would like to find a nicer place.

The earth by all rights will end, and if the human race wants to live beyond the limited ability of the earth, then space travel is required.