Should mankind be spending billions of dollars to explore space or trying to develope an atmosphere on Mars?

Question

Aren't there more pressing issues we should be concerned with here on Earth like the quality of our air, drinking water, Global warming or developing alternative sources of energy? Wouldn't it make more more sense to fix the problems we have on Earth so that mankind could go on surviving as opposed to wasting untold billions on a dream?...or is there something someone's not telling us about a catastrophic episode that some scientist or astronomer has predicted?

Answer 1

Of course there are definitely more important and current problems that need to be addressed first...

However, throwing more money at a problem (such as global warming) wouldn't help as much as it probably should. More of the bigger industries need to fundamentally change their business practices first, and individuals need to change their attitudes, only then would anything really be done about it.

Besides, exploring space is an important part of how we'll find our answers to some of life's greatest questions, and truly understand our universe.

And also, despite the fact the Earth's population is expected to level off in about 50 years (i.e. no more population increases/decreases) This planet can't sustain our civilization forever. We need to start looking for new places to live sooner or later, and who knows, if the world had been so prudent with its carbon emissions maybe we wouldn't be facing a global crisis right now.

Answer 2

Actually, we dont spend billions of dollars on the space program. All told, the program only costs about 16 billion dollars. If youre looking for a sacrificial lamb, look at education: 54 billion dollars, the military: 956 billion dollars, "airport security": 240 billion dollars, seaport security: 990 million dollars. Yes, there are more pressing issues, but in reality, they all require more money than the space program does. And may i remind you that with out the space program, young man, we would not be talking to each other on computers with an encompassing network of computers. And further more, we would not have satellite communication or cell phones, computers with wireless, ccd cameras, more efficient food packaging techniques. And this dream that you speak of will only come into fruition untill the pessmistic defeatism ends. You see it in Iraq, in the news media, and all those who would rather run than face the truth and be able to handle it. And may i remind you that only 17 people have been killed in the space program. If we were to give up because of that, then we may as well stop driving cars, or riding on airplanes, eating, drinking, smoking... If you want a terrorist, who is the real terrorist? We are, the terrorists have only killed 10,000. How many have WE killed, or the big corporations? Millions? Billions? But any way, thats beside the point. The point is, that we cannot dishonor the dead by giving up now. The large majority of people are actually happy with the space program. The catastrophic episode... That would be 99942 Apophis. The bane of human existance, and the reason we explore.

Answer 3

in the longer time period it really is a sturdy ingredient. Exploration is sturdy. what isn't any longer sturdy is doing such issues as putting yet another guy on the moon? Why? in an attempt to stroll round in better dirt and play some better golfing? that is only a waste of money. the authorities might want to spend OUR funds better ideal, and it would want to save a large style of money to assist human beings right here on earth. yet no longer through taking it out of the area software. authorities overspending remains a large problem. fix it, even somewhat, and we would have a great number of money to assist out a large style of human beings. NASA is a sturdy ingredient. that is mere existence enrichens mankind. It supplies us wish for the destiny. There are not from now on many different issues that supply us that type of wish.

Answer 4

I'm right with you on that, we spend way too much money into space exploration, while there are so many issues that we could be resolving here on earth, like air pollution, the emittance of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere, and global warming. The goverment is probably looking for an alternative place to live when they totally destroyed the planet, and charge us a hell of a lot of money to go live on mars . I know this sound a little absurb, because we do need to explore space to understand certain aspect of the universe that we live in, but spending this exhorbitant amount yearly is frustrating. I know that people are going to say that I'm against progress, but when you hear that they will eventually start charging $200,000 dollars for a trip into space, you realize that it is all been done
for monetary gain, so that private company could make profit and the goverment to tax the hell out of them.

Answer 5

As to the catastrophic episode, no there hasn't been any real predictions of impending doom, however the "clock" we use for measuring the life of our solar system has millions of years for the second hand, so if we're alittle off, we wouldn't know until it was far too late.

Answer 6

Yes, shouldn't every person on earth have enough food, shelter, education and work, for basic quality of life here, before we start worrying about developing other planets! If we were meant to be on other planets we'd have been born there.

Answer 7

It should be spent eliminating aliens here on earth first.

Answer 8

after we have screwed up this place ; the rich people will have somewhere else to go to

Answer 9

I think we should explore space and our oceans.

Answer 10

yes