People are traveling to the moon...?

Question

and looking for life in other planets while here on earth a whole lot of people starve to death everyday. Whatever happened to priorities?
Isn't it senseless and completely absurd?

Answer 1

well, in my opinion it is far from senseless or absurd, quite the opposite. just look at the big picture. traveling to the moon, the spacestation and such are all necessary steps towards viable, safe and routine interplanetary travel and someday interstellar. the world's population is huge and it is increasing at a more advanced rate than ever. going out into space and colonizing other planets will be vital to the survival of humanity. this can't just be invented on the spot when we will be in a tight spot needing it, it is a very long, very ardous process. not to mention things like the possibility of detecting an asteroid that is on a collision course with Earth in time and maybe averting the danger or at least saving a large enough procentage of the population, understanding the universe as a whole which does help understand earth better, developing more efficient plants (which would help the whole starving problem), and countless other benefits, many of which unforseable. it is all a matter of short-term versus long-term goals, and if u would just look at the world of politics nowadays you could see how disastrous short-term planning can be (or history for that matter).

ps: that woman paying for her trip in space is helping the space program by giving them all that money, what have you bought recently that helps the entire human race?

Answer 2

Absolutely not! Do you know how many thousands of people are employed in order to send one person or satelite into outer space? Understanding our place in the universe also helps us understand more and more about our planet. One of the reason that people are starving on Earth is because of the increasing birth rate. Space exploration also provides a possibe answer to this problem. We may be able colonize other planets, decreasing the population problems on this planet. Even if we never do, the thought process of determining how we might go about colonizing another planet may have incredible applications here on earth. Learning how to farm in a bubble on the moon, for example, might teach us how to increase the effectiveness of farming here on earth.

There is another aspect of space exploration: The human spirit. We are explorers by nature. What good is it to feed our bodies but not our spirits? Taking care of all our needs should be priorities. There are many people working to end world hunger. It is not being ignored. However, that doesn't mean it needs to be EVERYONE's personal mission. What good would it be if everyone who opened a store opened a clothing store, and no one opened a grocery store? Or what good would it be if we all had food, but no one knew how to build a house? Many of the people who make their living following their passion of space exploration are the same people who are contributing so much money to charities like Feed The Children.

Answer 3

I agree with you that this is senseless and completely absurd, especially, there are a lot of poor people all the world.

Answer 4

I think it is totally ludicrous for some one to spend that much to go to the moon instead of helping someone else with the money, But I wake up broke every day finding someone that needs my money more then I. So my thing is is It right for me to spend a hundred dollars on a trip to the beach instead of buying food or clothes for the less fortunate person .

Answer 5

I agree, our manned space program is absurd. For all the money we have spent on our manned space program we should be building condo's on Venus. The Europeans use unmanned programs and launch sattelites at less than half the cost we incur. If we started unmanned programs we could be building condos in New Orleans.

Answer 6

I think it is absurd in a sense but people like to find new things

Answer 7

I just watched CNN and this lady is going to the moon as a "tourist"...it will cost her $20 million!! That money could go to help people in need (ie homeless/cancer research, etc),.

Answer 8

It's a Dream... everyone has them, whats the big deal? She worked her entire life to get the money to able to do it, why is fulfilled one's dreams and accomplishments always has to be a selfish act?
Do you know if this women does charity work on her own?
It's her money and she should be able to do with it what she wants...

Answer 9

You're right human issues should be on humanity and if there's any scientific research that needs to be done it should be on disease, not outer space.

Answer 10

Damn illegal immigrants. Now they're trying to take over the moon.