Given the problems of climate change on Earth, should we still be exploring space? Why?

Question

This is in light of the fact that Richard Branson has just unveiled his space tourism craft 'WhiteKnightTwo': http://uk.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080728/tsc-us-space-aerospace-tourism-virgin-e123fef.html

Answer 1

that's awesome

i heard about his project to offer tours in space however for the average working person paying millions just to catch a glimpse of space is worth while beyond anything

but the question arises that the millions spent could hav been spent on a co2 catalysts project or something similar

the sad thing is that the people that have ambitions for this planet are not amongst the ones with enough power and wealth to process their ideas into reality.

if sir Richard Branson were to come across my answer i would hav a couple of issues to discuss.

Answer 2

Definitely. One of the biggest reasons for exploring space in the first place is to make advancements in science and develop new technologies that can be used for improvements on earth.

Paradoxically, advancements in space exploration is guaranteed to help humanity tackle difficulties on earth and may even help humanity (and life on earth in general) to survive if some terrible catastrophe happens.

Answer 3

Yes,

  A) the solar system is full of raw material that will benifit Earth if we develop the technology to exploit them.

  B) Space exploration is a challenge that has and will galvanise technological development with benefits to human society.

C) its an aspirational goal that can inspire the minds and imagination of millions of people

D) Climate change can't be dealt with by simply cutting back the relative pittance ( on government scales)  that is spent on Space.  Its a false economy, Climate change needs to be dealt with at the root of the problem which is waste produce by industry meeting the needs of consumers.  The industries must change as must the habits of people. The idea that stopping space exploration will help this  is pure tokenism.

Answer 4

Richard Branson wants to leave the space flights alone. What is he after... to ruin another Planet ?  Why is it that all these men with money think they can do just what they like.... well you cannot Richard, and if there is anything in the outer space, just leave it alone. Dont you think that man has ruined this Planet by too much greed, all because they have the money to do so., that you can go and ruin another. Leave well alone, and just take care of the Aircraft you have instead. That is enough for you to be going on with in your life.

Answer 5

actually, the reason space exploration has to go on is that we're busy ruining this planet of ours to the point that some time in the next few centuries, humankind won't survive if we don't find another planet we can survive on. Yes we need to try for as much damage control as possible, but we can't turn back the damage that's already been done. Not sure space tourism is the solution though, but oh well, I haven't got the money for that anyway so who cares?

Answer 6

Of course we should. Space travel is the very pinnacle of human achievement. There is far more money being wasted on far worse things- unemployment benefit, for a start. Did you know that over 20% of the UK's total budget goes on the welfare of people who should be able to look after themselves? If we stopped subsidising the lazy and the stupid we could divert those funds elsewhere. Besides, fighting climate change does not require much money from the government; just effort from the populace in general and the business community in particular.

Why should we help poor countries, anyway? Most of their problems are of their own making.

Answer 7

My views on using space craft for tourism are a resounding negative, until/unless an alternative to fossil fuel is found.

But space exploration is different. One day, when the earth is old and spent, survivors from this planet might be obliged to step out into what, today, is the 'great unknown'. In a couple of thousand years, colonies of Earth survivors will surely be established on other planets, their path mapped out by space exploration begun in the 20th Century.

Answer 8

Yes- if the climate of our planet can no longer sustain our species... we should be colonizing mars, if just for the continuation of our species.

There have been at least 4 provable mass extinctions on our planet where more than 70% of species die.

this next one could be us, and nothing we have made today will last more than 1000 years, our cd's and hard drives will be gone in a matter of decades or centuries without us doing upkeep. all of our buildings will rust and fall. if our civilization were to fail, it would be nice to know that there we some humans living in a sustainable space colony, and they say that mars does have an atmosphere, it is merely missing the green house gasses that ours if full of to enable plant life to live, although mars only gets half the sunlight we do, it still does get light.

I think we need to send people to mars, way before the two decades that they plan to.

Answer 9

no. space should monitored and taken into account, and the odd exploration should be made, but the economical and ecological implications are so ridiculous, it makes no sense at all. As for the Virgin venture, why should the whole world live on a more polluted planet so that a few millionaires can have a little fun? It's disgusting how the rich think that they are exempt just because they buy organic food from time to time.

Essentially, it's just a big waste.

Answer 10

I think it should still be carried out as it will hopefully provide invaluable information about our planet and surroundings and hopefully another planet to pillage, I mean explore, when we've completely ruined this one.

I don't agree with this space tourism though, surely there are other things that the rich lacking in common sense can waste their money on such as building resources in developing countries/building stuff to help reduce climate change etc.

Answer 11

Climate change  is happening and so we must adapt. The greatest concern for our survival surrounds food and water the supplies for both may be disrupted by global warming.

In the next 10 years, we will not know Earth as we have known it in the past or even today. But summing it up, the whole world needs to work collectively to fix the problems.

On the other hand, I think we should continue to explore space because in doing so we will also learn about our planet, that is how science works.

Answer 12

Yes of course we should, man has always been exploring his suroundings and that includes space. The exploration of space might be a great help in our understanding of the universe.

The present climate change that 'may' be taking place is in no way caused by man, these changes have been taking place on earth for billions of years. We did not start this possible climate change nor can we stop it.

Answer 13

Given all mankind’s flaws, I feel our best trait is our need to better ourselves and our understanding of things around us. Where I appreciative the need to react to climate change and other pressing matters I think we should not starve our naturally fascination with understanding the universe. You never know, by understanding the core elements outside our planet we may be able to provide a better solution for our problems inside the planet.

With nations split on several international matters one thing can not be denied that we have in common with our neighbours from other countries and that is our need to explore space. Hand in hand relationships can grow, and politics on earth can improve. In turn our appreciation for our fellow man increases and so does our generosity.

Answer 14

Firstly, Branson is not exploring space, he is offering sub-orbital thrill rides for rich people.

Secondly, it is a tired and irritating false dichotomy when people talk of Billions spent on space that could be spent on feeding the poor etc - the space budget is a tiny fraction of other budgets, much less than people think. The cost of sending a probe to Mars would buy about the wings and half the tailplane of a Eurofighter|! And stopping spending on space would not free up vast reservoirs of cash - it would just disappear back into the treasury. There was no cash bonanza when project Apollo was scrapped.

Thirdly, it is space technology that is allowing us to observe and study climate change! Visit the NASA website for details of that!

Answer 15

It has always been mans destiny to discover new horizons,,from our first humble beginnings we have explored,from the forests to new continents and new worlds,,the Earth will one day become uninhabitable regardless of our interference and without these first tentative steps to find new planets with which to migrate the human race will die out,

The stepping stones of human life are littered with our downfalls,This planet is the only one we know of that can sustain life as we understand it,we will lose this planet one day and we need to find a way out,

The toys with which Sir Richard Branson is playing with will help to move our technological understanding a little further

Answer 16

Exploration of space yes definately as long as it pushes the boundaries of whats already been uncovered. Working out how to deliver man to distant planets or beyond our own solar system would be a great start.

What gets me about Bransons dealie is the spending of all this money sending rich people on sight seeing trips in to space, wasting fuel and mineral resources in to the bargain, and for nothing other than a glorified thrill ride.

Answer 17

Without a doubt we should keep exploring space, i mean what is the point of a clean world when it would be so overcrowded  and resources so overstretched that life would be unbearable, after all there is only so much room at the inn, what do you suggest as an alternative to space exploration, birth control, genocide! Space 4 tourists is a whole different ball game, alternative fuel or alternative drive would be a better answer than, we give up! Come on people we used to be pioneers in engineering.

Answer 18

Yes, we should continue to explore space.

In fact, by using a comparatively small amount of the $500 billion spent on weapons each year by the government, we could explore space, solve the problem of poverty, save the planet and STILL have more than enough money left over to destroy the world.

Answer 19

The day these people are judged for their actions on earth, do you think they will be able to justify spending billions on space while their fellow man starved and died of curable disease. I know research is done in space but most cures and answers are here amongst us, they are only speculating into a potential money making area.  

William Shatner told Branson no chance, and he boldly went where others haven't it tells you something.

Answer 20

Sorry, but we can't do anything about climate change, it's a natural part of Earth, and always will be. It isn't always global warming, either. It was global cooling in the 70s, and soon will be again. Global warming is just a joke, like Al Gore, who uses more in his mansion and private jet in a month than most people use in ten years. And besides, from December 2007 to January 2008, the Earth's temperature plummeted, undoing 100 years of warming, and it's still dropping. After a cold winter, like what they had in the 1300s through the 1800s, you'll all be wishing for some global warming, LOL. And this is according to NASA.

Anyways, yes, we should explore space. But unfortunately, there's global warming on Mars, too, since those little green Martians can't stop driving their SUVs, LOL. But seriously, space exploration is an important part of the future, and we'll see more space exploration in the future only if we don't let greedy charlatans like Al Gore get in the way.

Answer 21

I think that it's still probably too early to be sending people into space for fun, especially as it's so dangerous and so little money is spent on space exploration/research. I do still think we should be exploring space for scientific reasons....i don't mind our hard-earned wages going into space research as i think i would rather know if a bloomin' big asteroid is coming towards us rather than being in ignorance to save a few pounds. It could very well save us! But space tourism......leave it to the future once it's a bit safer, I think!

Answer 22

We need to explore space in order to find somewhere else for man  to live. The World population has quadrupled since I was born, if this continues the Earth is doomed. Alternatively we could resort to cannibalism. If we all eat one human each, this would help solve the food problem and reduce the population by 50%. Reminds me of the two cannibals eating a clown - one says to the other "Does this taste funny to you?".

Answer 23

Yes we should still be exploring space, it is important to humanity's long term future.  A lot of modern technology, and our understanding of our own planet, is a spinoff of space exploration.  The cost of space exploration is about 1% of the US defence budget, cutting it isn't going to solve any global problems.

If Columbus had waited for world poverty to be cured before setting off, America would still be undiscovered.  People took a while to see the benefits of the Wright brothers' first flights, but few people today would call for the abolition of all aircraft.

There is no reason why we can't explore the universe we live in and work on our own planets problems at the same time.  Especially if we concentrate on improving lives instead of ending them.

Mind you, rich people flying onto the outer atmosphere hardly counts as exploration, you could discover more in a local library.

Answer 24

Richard Branson's service will have as much to do with space exploration as me going into my backyard has to do with exporing the world. We've been further and seen more so it can't be taken in the "exploration" context. It's a private business and the people wishing to go will be funding the cost so it's no drain on resourses. It will be only for the very rich. I think it's unfair to use the fact that if they chose to send that money to a third world country it would saw hundreds of lives. If I sent the money I'll be using to further my CD and DVD collection this year, that would save a few lives too,...... So we're ALL guilty of that. The rest is just maths frankly.

The key factor everyone is missing here is the safety aspect. Entering space and returning is dangerous business, regardless how much you spend. Look at the safety record of past space missions and you'll see it's truly awful compared to other forms of transport. Failure rates far exceed 1%, and would anyone get on a plane if there was a 1 in 100 chance of dying on the flight rather than 1 in 100,000,000 or whatever? I think not. What will happen with Mr Branson's project is that a few trips will go hitch free then there will be a disaster and, after that, very few people will want to go, causing the collapse of this particular wing of his business.

Answer 25

If we start space exploration now we increase the chances of surviving extinction. If the 2012 really does happen we may have limited time left if 2012 is debunked then we may have a chance for the 2036 event see asteroid 99942 Apophis. Either way we can learn more about our home by looking at it from space and a different perspective.

If you are talking money blame the government for spending on silly projects and the rich for hording money in their banks. At least branston is putting his money to good use and toward the betterment of humanity even if he wants to be the first space airline.

Answer 26

Space tourism seems to me pointless and a waste of resources we can easily see need to be used elsewhere.

Space exploration is perhaps a different matter, what ever we do humans are unlikely to be content with 'enough'. It seems that part of our very 'purpose' of existence is a drive to do better than others around us. The survival instinct drives us to secure our futures by controlling as mach as we can.

Space exploration offers the prospect of using resources from other celestial bodies that cannot support life yet contain minerals that can sustain ours.

Despite all the suffering created by not having sufficient we seem unable to slow down the growth of humans in numbers, on the one hand it is wrong to impose on others our views about their life style, on the other it seems selfish to garner resources simply to ourselves and allow others to suffer on the basis 'it was their own fault'.

Space exploration offers the 'great hope' just as world exploration must have offered that hope in the time of Columbus, Magellan, Drake etc.

Are we doomed to find more resources only to increase in numbers beyond their ability to sustain us in comfort so forever forced to search beyond whatever horizons we currently have? Certainly the sci-fi writers would hope so.

No to Branson's bash but yes to NASA.

Answer 27

Only if we, as the inhabitants of Earth, can explore and FIND another planet like us. We have seriously screwed up this one. Otherwise, I wouldn't want to travel into outer space for its entertainment value. Peace!

Answer 28

Space Exploration is for the rich nations that have no earthly social conscience. Rather than eradicate poverty and disease in their own countries and in the poorest nations of the world, they would spend billions of dollars on folly.

Space Tourism is for the idle rich who also have nothing better to do with their money. I HATE it when multi millionaires appear on national TV asking ME to give "just £2.00 a month to this charity and £3.00 a month to that charity", when they have the power and financial abillity to make a HUGE difference single handedly.

Yes, in some respects "White Knight 2" is a great idea, but at £100,000 a ticket, I will never get to ride on it. When I was a boy, all I wanted to be was an Astronaught. Now that I am grown up and working to help save lives in a hospital, I realise that there are far better things, far more needy causes to spend £100,000 on.

I wish Richard Branson all the luck in the world with his new project, I really do. But, if he would like to come to the hospital where I work and tell the patients dying from cancer that Space Exploration and Tourism is a much more worthy cause for his money to be spent on, I will have deeper respect for the guy.

Answer 29

We have only sent manned space flights as far as our own moon.  Given the vastness of space, I think it is a bit much to be talking about stopping the exploration of space, when we have only managed to get a proper look at such a tiny bit of it.  Mind you, if the universe is continually expanding, we could be exploring for quite some time!

It is human nature to explore and to invent.  Making a conscious descision to stop exploration is to delibrately suppress the instincts that make make our species what it is.

Answer 30

The argument of spending money on space exploration versus sorting out problems at home doesn't quite make sense. There are *far* less important things and *far* less noble and worthwhile expenditures than the exploration of the greatest horizons. If people could take a step back and break out of the compellingly comfortable shackles of their consumerist existence and actually realise how much money and human effort our economies spend on complete and utter rubbish, I think the means would be found very quickly to put some impetus into helping matters such as poverty. After this very act of realisation, the importance of the exploration of space should be startlingly obvious.

Answer 31

Space exploration is providing an important aspiration for mankind, one which is shared amongst many nations. Each new frontier of space exploration brings along new challenges which requires research - which brings benefits to earth. Without the space exploration - there is no aspiration to do this research.

In order to spend a long time in space e.g. manned mars mission - requires research into providing for humans in an inhospitable environment. The travellers will have to be self sufficient since they can't stop at a service station on the way. This research will help into providing food on this planet to inhospitable areas.

Also, advancements in space exploration may yet reveal that humans are not alone in the universe. This could force the human race into trying to improve itself.