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A bit ironic that Yusaku Maezawa wants the mission to be about "World Peace" when the $200+ million he most likely spent could be better served on Earth. Just c

A bit ironic that Yusaku Maezawa wants the mission to be about "World Peace" when the $200+ million he most likely spent could be better served on Earth. Just call it what it is, a wish to be part of something bigger.

nkoren 8y ago
Where do you think that money is being spent? They don't just haul it into space and shovel it out an airlock.
- treydey 8y ago
  Obviously it's being spent on developing the rocket. My issue is that he specifically states that the mission is about "inspiring world peace". There are clearly better ways to inspire world peace than taking a lap around the moon.
  - ben_w 8y ago
    For $200 million? I can’t think of any. Remember the world economy is approximately half a million times bigger than the amount of money being spent on this. Even the most recent summer Olympics (which are, I think, supposed to be world peace promoting) was 655 times more expensive.
    - treydey 8y ago
      There are numerous ways to address world peace such as through education, technology, medicine etc. According to this paper by the WHO and UNICEF there was a shortage of about $11 billion for immunization. How many hundreds of thousands could be saved from a $200 million donation? http://www.who.int/choice/publications/p_2007_Scaling-up_Immunisation.pdf http://www.who.int/choice/publications/p_2007_Scaling-up_Imm...
      - ctdonath 8y ago
        Commoditizing space travel may save the human race. That's Elon's point & goal.
      - ben_w 8y ago
        How many? 2% of those who don’t. Or it could be spent on mosquito nets. I’m told those are very cost-effective. Or it could be spent on testing African-Americans for sickle-cell anaemia as children. I’ve been told that’s so cost-effective that it’s actually a negative cost per person once your account for necessary medical treatment as adults, as it’s much cheaper to provide effective treatment for those same people as children. Or it could be spent replacing fossil fuels with solar power and electric cars so people don’t die from air pollution oh wait hang on… Or we can make self driving cars so that distracted drivers don’t crash and kill so many people… hang on a minute, there’s a pattern here isn’t there?
        treydey 8y ago
        So you don't think the headline, "Maezawa spends a quarter of a billion to save hundreds of thousands" would have a larger impact on world peace than the current one? Let me get this straight, I don't mind how he's spending his money. My entire issue is that he doesn't need to bring in world peace as a reasoning to go to the moon. He's helping advance technology which is a noble cause.
        ben_w 8y ago
        “Doesn’t need to”? No but he wants to, and he is justified in doing so.
eliaspro 8y ago
This letter, written by the former NASA director Stuhlinger answers this question IMHO perfectly: http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/08/why-explore-space.html?m=1 http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/08/why-explore-space.html?...
- treydey 8y ago
  Thanks for this. It'll take me a while to digest it.
- sjcsjc 8y ago
  That's a remarkable letter. It would make a good standalone HN post.... Just checked - it's been posted twice previously and got a total of 6 upvotes. https://hn.algolia.com/?query=Stuhlinger&sort=byPopularity&prefix&page=0&dateRange=all&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?query=Stuhlinger&sort=byPopularity&p...
  - seer 8y ago
    yeah that letter made me a little teary, maybe a time for another repost?
- joering2 8y ago
  You asking man that job and paycheck depends on spending large amount of public money not to defend spending it on its projects? Rockets dont feed people, a billion pounds or rice do! Otoh, great letter indeed!
  - simonh 8y ago
    Weather satellites, communications satellites, ground resource survey satellites, improved weather and climate models based on lessons learned by analysing the atmospheres of other planets. These have all boosted agricultural productivity on earth, putting more food into more mouths more cheaply.
    - joering2 8y ago

nkoren 8y ago

Where do you think that money is being spent? They don't just haul it into space and shovel it out an airlock.

treydey 8y ago
Obviously it's being spent on developing the rocket. My issue is that he specifically states that the mission is about "inspiring world peace". There are clearly better ways to inspire world peace than taking a lap around the moon.
- ben_w 8y ago
  For $200 million? I can’t think of any. Remember the world economy is approximately half a million times bigger than the amount of money being spent on this. Even the most recent summer Olympics (which are, I think, supposed to be world peace promoting) was 655 times more expensive.
  - treydey 8y ago
    There are numerous ways to address world peace such as through education, technology, medicine etc. According to this paper by the WHO and UNICEF there was a shortage of about $11 billion for immunization. How many hundreds of thousands could be saved from a $200 million donation? http://www.who.int/choice/publications/p_2007_Scaling-up_Immunisation.pdf http://www.who.int/choice/publications/p_2007_Scaling-up_Imm...
    - ctdonath 8y ago
      Commoditizing space travel may save the human race. That's Elon's point & goal.
    - ben_w 8y ago
      How many? 2% of those who don’t. Or it could be spent on mosquito nets. I’m told those are very cost-effective. Or it could be spent on testing African-Americans for sickle-cell anaemia as children. I’ve been told that’s so cost-effective that it’s actually a negative cost per person once your account for necessary medical treatment as adults, as it’s much cheaper to provide effective treatment for those same people as children. Or it could be spent replacing fossil fuels with solar power and electric cars so people don’t die from air pollution oh wait hang on… Or we can make self driving cars so that distracted drivers don’t crash and kill so many people… hang on a minute, there’s a pattern here isn’t there?
      - treydey 8y ago
        So you don't think the headline, "Maezawa spends a quarter of a billion to save hundreds of thousands" would have a larger impact on world peace than the current one? Let me get this straight, I don't mind how he's spending his money. My entire issue is that he doesn't need to bring in world peace as a reasoning to go to the moon. He's helping advance technology which is a noble cause.
        ben_w 8y ago
        “Doesn’t need to”? No but he wants to, and he is justified in doing so.

eliaspro 8y ago

This letter, written by the former NASA director Stuhlinger answers this question IMHO perfectly: http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/08/why-explore-space.html?m=1 http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/08/why-explore-space.html?...

treydey 8y ago
Thanks for this. It'll take me a while to digest it.
sjcsjc 8y ago
That's a remarkable letter. It would make a good standalone HN post.... Just checked - it's been posted twice previously and got a total of 6 upvotes. https://hn.algolia.com/?query=Stuhlinger&sort=byPopularity&prefix&page=0&dateRange=all&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?query=Stuhlinger&sort=byPopularity&p...
- seer 8y ago
  yeah that letter made me a little teary, maybe a time for another repost?
joering2 8y ago
You asking man that job and paycheck depends on spending large amount of public money not to defend spending it on its projects? Rockets dont feed people, a billion pounds or rice do! Otoh, great letter indeed!
- simonh 8y ago
  Weather satellites, communications satellites, ground resource survey satellites, improved weather and climate models based on lessons learned by analysing the atmospheres of other planets. These have all boosted agricultural productivity on earth, putting more food into more mouths more cheaply.
  - joering2 8y ago