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>Then there's a genuine question of what this enormous expenditure truly buys us. It helps to answer the question of whether or not humans can even survive lon

>Then there's a genuine question of what this enormous expenditure truly buys us. It helps to answer the question of whether or not humans can even survive long term away from Earth. Sure, if you judge it purely by the price tag, it's not doing very well. If you judge it by the scientific, societal and philosophical implications, we're not spending nearly enough.

YetAnotherNick 6y ago
> It helps to answer the question of whether or not humans can even survive long term away from Earth How will it answer that question that we already don't know of? I don't think that was the aim of ISS anyways and will definitely won't be the aim of second ISS. Humans can survive in space for year without significant physical damage but with lot of training.
- calibas 6y ago
  To me, it's just so odd that people don't seem to understand why we have an ISS. Is the main argument "We've already learned what's needed about life in space, and now we don't need a space station anymore"? That seems absurd.
  - bluGill 6y ago
    The ISS exists to give Russia cover to keep the ex Soviet rocket scientists employed and thus not tempted to work for some evil dictatorship.
  - lordlic 6y ago
    No, the argument is that there's plenty to learn, and it's all very interesting, but it doesn't stand up against people's very real needs here on Earth. I'm about the biggest fan of space you'll find, but even I, sadly, find the ethical calculus unassailable. Manned spaceflight won't accrue material benefits for ten generations or much more, and meanwhile human beings are dying of treatable or curable diseases, suffering under poverty, and living without access to clean water. This spoken-word work from 1970 conveys the sentiment well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goh2x_G0ct4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goh2x_G0ct4
    - perl4ever 6y ago
      >I'm about the biggest fan of space you'll find, but even I, sadly, find the ethical calculus unassailable. I'm not the biggest fan of manned spaceflight, and I couldn't care less about the ISS in particular. But how does "ethical calculus" tell you to care about killing the ISS, vs. say LIGO, or wasteful military spending, or the video game industry, or foie gras, or goldschlager, or TikTok or astronomy in general or the Xbox or selfie sticks or... If I was dictator, I'd prefer missions like New Horizons, but I can't see what ethical calculation is involved, I'd just rather see pictures of far away stuff than pay taxes for a space station to go around in circles.
VWWHFSfQ 6y ago
> if you judge it purely by the price tag, it's not doing very well. This is a bad time for the ISS program to ask for more money. The USA Congress is not going to give NASA and the ISS program more money when they've already committed to print an enormous amount of dollars for COVID stimulus and various other COVID-related bailouts. NASA and the ISS is going to be on a budget for awhile. Even moreso than they were before.

YetAnotherNick 6y ago

> It helps to answer the question of whether or not humans can even survive long term away from Earth How will it answer that question that we already don't know of? I don't think that was the aim of ISS anyways and will definitely won't be the aim of second ISS. Humans can survive in space for year without significant physical damage but with lot of training.

calibas 6y ago
To me, it's just so odd that people don't seem to understand why we have an ISS. Is the main argument "We've already learned what's needed about life in space, and now we don't need a space station anymore"? That seems absurd.
- bluGill 6y ago
  The ISS exists to give Russia cover to keep the ex Soviet rocket scientists employed and thus not tempted to work for some evil dictatorship.
- lordlic 6y ago
  No, the argument is that there's plenty to learn, and it's all very interesting, but it doesn't stand up against people's very real needs here on Earth. I'm about the biggest fan of space you'll find, but even I, sadly, find the ethical calculus unassailable. Manned spaceflight won't accrue material benefits for ten generations or much more, and meanwhile human beings are dying of treatable or curable diseases, suffering under poverty, and living without access to clean water. This spoken-word work from 1970 conveys the sentiment well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goh2x_G0ct4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goh2x_G0ct4
  - perl4ever 6y ago
    >I'm about the biggest fan of space you'll find, but even I, sadly, find the ethical calculus unassailable. I'm not the biggest fan of manned spaceflight, and I couldn't care less about the ISS in particular. But how does "ethical calculus" tell you to care about killing the ISS, vs. say LIGO, or wasteful military spending, or the video game industry, or foie gras, or goldschlager, or TikTok or astronomy in general or the Xbox or selfie sticks or... If I was dictator, I'd prefer missions like New Horizons, but I can't see what ethical calculation is involved, I'd just rather see pictures of far away stuff than pay taxes for a space station to go around in circles.

VWWHFSfQ 6y ago

> if you judge it purely by the price tag, it's not doing very well. This is a bad time for the ISS program to ask for more money. The USA Congress is not going to give NASA and the ISS program more money when they've already committed to print an enormous amount of dollars for COVID stimulus and various other COVID-related bailouts. NASA and the ISS is going to be on a budget for awhile. Even moreso than they were before.