What are those astronauts doing on the moon and mars?

Question

Whats the point of it for crying out loud!!

Answer 1

What was the point of crossing the oceans? Why do anything?

Do you not realize that the technology gained from the space race makes everyone's lives better? Computers, materials, medicines, Tang, weather tracking capabilities, communications, and many other things were greatly advanced by the space program, and by project Apollo in particular.

If we're going to survive for the long haul as a species, then we MUST venture into space. (The Earth is doomed to be swallowed by the Sun some long time in the future). Going to these places is the first step in becoming a star-faring species. We're a long way from warp drive, but if we don't pursue space travel at all, then it will never get invented.

I'll use Kennedy's own words:

"But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard..."

Answer 2

Eating cheese.

Answer 3

There have been no manned moon landings since 1972, and no manned Mars landings ever.  I hope there never will be; unmanned instruments, and eventually automatic sample return, will be much better value for money.

The point of it?  More knowledge about the solar system, how it came into being, what kind of universe we live in.  Of course, if you think you know the answer to all these questions already, then there isn't much point.

Answer 4

No astronaut has even gone to Mars.

The last astronaut to go to the Moon came back in 1972.

And your thinking is pretty much why the Apollo program was canceled and why we have not gone back to the Moon. Most people see no point to it, especially given the cost.

Answer 5

There are no astronauts presently on the moon or Mars, but if there were, the point of it would be exploration and increased human knowledge. I feel very sorry for people like you, who don't get why that matters. What a very dull person you must be.

Answer 6

Humans are compulsive explorers, blessed (or cursed) with a soaring intellect and curiosity.  These are part of the reason why our species has survived.  We have a very strong need to answer questions and to understand things.

Some of our explorations throughout history have yielded little, but most of them have ended up being significant, even though they seemed useless at the time.  Are you aware of all the technology which was driven by the space race, which has become commercialized for general use?  The fact that you can use a computer at home is one of those benefits, as well as the fact that you can send a message like this one, to people all over the world.

Answer 7

The main reason why we explore space is one that the science community and governments do not want to talk about because of what the crazies will do. An absolute truth in and of itself only. "We will have to leave this planet sometime within the next 200 million years because life will not be able to thrive." We are looking for a place to move to. Period! Most missions to space are to study how long term space travel effects the human body. Right now, they have noticed that in the absence of gravity, bone density decreases as well as joint strength. Most people do not realize this, but most astronauts who spend a lengthy time in space cannot walk when they get back to earth. It takes a few days of rehabilitation to get back on their feet solidly. So, we need to fix that first. An imitation gravity field in a space station is our next big goal. Besides a lunar base by 2015.

Answer 8

The price of the war in Iraq could pay NASA's annual budget for ten years, and still have enough left over to feed and house every single person on earth for a couple years.  Go ***** about that.

Answer 9

Ppl havent been to the moon since 1972. And what they are doing in space is fixing/making a satelite and doing research.

Answer 10

Solitaire -

Based on your multiple exclamation points, it sounds like you are upset that we spend a tiny fraction of our national budget on exploration and science instead of something else like, say - entitlement programs, socialized medicine, welfare, open combat, catastrophe relief for people living below sea level, or general waste. We who have worked our entire lives to support the advancement of knowledge are clinging to that crumb of budget with our fingernails. Do you really want it as well?

Answer 11

I can think of a few practical points, already mentioned but

The advance of current technology,

The prospect of colonisation on another planter (should ours become hostile),

The chance of broadening our understanding of earth and make more accurate predictions

Personally, I think they should take half the money they put into defence and use that for space exploration and human resource instead. Is it really necessary to maintain 20 nuclear warheads, when just one could destroy us all?