4 ms·

I will never understand those who want to travel to space. Feeling the elements on the skin (air, wind, water, sun, gravity..) is an essential part of adventure

I will never understand those who want to travel to space. Feeling the elements on the skin (air, wind, water, sun, gravity..) is an essential part of adventure. Billions of dollars and billions of miles after once you arrive you can only observe, you can't feel anything because you have to be in a spacesuit the whole time, no air, no gravity, no wind, no plants, no water, when you can feel some air is artificial. What's the point of it all? Hubble pics + a serious VR set basically give you the same visual experience which is the only thing that maybe could be worth about going there.

javajosh 3y ago
I'll never understand those who don't want to travel to space. It's an enormous universe we live in, and here we are, on one (admittedly awesome) planet. There is a great deal to learn, and many adventures to be had! Note that this same conversation has happened many times in human history; some people are home bodies, some people crave adventure, and ne'er the twain shall meet. It's a deep-seated personality trait, and you can't reason people out of either position. The other point (which is really why I responded) is to note that space travel isn't just for humans. Robots, especially AI-driven robots, may be able to explore and exploit our solar system far better than bio humans ever could. It would make a nice division of responsibility: we get the Earth and her unique and valuable biosphere, they get the rest of the system and it's vast resources. I believe the relationship could be deeply symbiotic and fruitful for both cultures.
- debesyla 3y ago
  Question rises to me: what good could us offer to this AI?
  - javajosh 3y ago
    Remember that Life has been around like 5 billion years - a continuous computation running on the most sophisticated computer in existence. I don't think we fully appreciate how special Life is, how special we are. It's likely that some manufacturing techniques will be best done, perhaps only done, by humans on Earth. There are many materials (organic ones) that are more abundant here than elsewhere - and in a more convenient location. The solar system is something like a vast desert; the Earth is like a great city. I would imagine that it will take a long time for space-based manufacturing to eclipse that of Earth, and perhaps it never will, for some things. Then of course there is the inherent interest in biological life - tourism, basically. It's hard to say because we don't really know what's possible out there. But I guarantee some products and services will remain economical to provide only on Earth in the long run. (I mean, if you posit magical nanotech then sure, we can't trade. But I think the future is more limited, and interesting, than that.) Oh, another thing we can offer is 'reboot services' in the event of intense Solar activity. In return, maybe they can deflect an asteroid or comet for us. I think it will work out!
- JumpinJack_Cash 3y ago
  > > has happened many times in human history Nope , this is the first time that you won't find water, plants, air when you arrive at destination. Also the first time that you'll have to live forever in a spacesuit, also the first time you won't be able to feel the elements on your skin, say goodbye to rain, wind, sun on your skin , smell of flowers, smell of rain on the soil etc. and whatever alien elements you find there, you cannot feel either because you have to be in a spacesuit the whole time. The only thing that maybe are better there than on Earth are the visuals, but that's also a question mark, not every planet has a first row view of the Pillars of Creation. At the same time the view of the Milky Way from Earthly spots such as the Atacama Desert is pretty spectacular, and for everything else there is Hubble + VR.
  - javajosh 3y ago
    Okay, but you kind of totally ignored my second paragraph.
bluescrn 3y ago
Mostly the urge to explore and to learn. Partly a desire to preserve the knowledge and culture that humanity has created in the event of an extinction-level event on Earth. Messing around in low-earth orbit, or even exploring our nearest neighbours in the solar system is like dipping our toes into a vast ocean. It's a first step on a much bigger adventure, an adventure that won't happen in our lifetimes. It may seem impossible now, but crossing oceans in sailing ships, let alone aircraft, will have seemed impossible once.
- JumpinJack_Cash 3y ago
  > > much bigger adventure I believe that without the familiar elements waiting for us at whatever the destination might be, it would be an asylum not an adventure. If you play a word association game using the word 'adventure' the first thing that realistically come up to mind are: 1) Hike 2) Mountain bike trail 3) Motorcycle trip 4) Boat trip Etc. etc. All the above adventures have the common thing that while you are out and about you feel the elements very strongly on your skin and all your 5 senses are intensely stimulated . In space you'd be confined and in your spacesuit your whole life and you'd also be confined in the spaceship or artificial spaces. No stimulation at all, maybe only the visuals would be stimulated but you'd be mostly staring at empty space, and the space that is not empty such as clusters and stars might be beautiful to look from afar but they are so big that you can never quite touch them, unlike a flower or a sequoia.
  - OkayPhysicist 3y ago
    The key features of adventure are A) risk and B) novelty. Space exploration absolutely features an abundance of both.
    - JumpinJack_Cash 3y ago
      > > The key features of adventure are A) risk and B) novelty. Space exploration absolutely features an abundance of both. If that is the case there are billions of activities ranging from unprotected sex to drug smuggling to drug consuming to riding motorcycles to hitting on wives on cartel bosses in Latin America...all right here on Earth and available to those who want to try them for a few bucks. I still mantain that feeling the elements on your skin and have all 5 senses stimulated while moving fast (but not too fast that you need protection) is the best definition of adventure and the one that most people would agree on...AKA "I'm flying Jack!!" , what would Rose say when going to space? "I am being propelled in vacuum by a mix of carbon, sulphur, and potassium nitrate, I can't feel anything because I am in my spacesuit strapped to the seat of this alluminium spaceship which I hope is airtight but this indicator here tells me I am moving faster than every human ever did, so it must be true, Jack!"
BurningFrog 3y ago
Do you seriously think that feeling no gravity would be boring?
marsven_422 3y ago
[dead]
YeGoblynQueenne 3y ago
That's a perfectly legitimate comment -you are explaining the way you feel- and it's a bit of an abuse of the down/upvote buttons to downvote it. I get that people disagree with it but it's polite and I'd say a good quality comment overall so it should be upvoted back to brightness. I'm basing this on one of dang's comments on being a "good citizen on HN": Downvoting for disagreement is not always bad, but it sometimes is. There should be some nuance here. Don't be indiscriminate. When a comment is blatantly false, downvoting is probably ok, especially when there's something else wrong with the comment. But high-quality, polite posts don't deserve penalizing just because you don't share their position. When you see one of those in negative territory, please be a good citizen and upvote it back to par. Users doing that is one of the community's self-correcting mechanisms, and it's more important now that we've made some downvotes more powerful. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7608102 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7608102 I'm trying very hard to learn to upvote high-quality, informative and civil comments with which I very strongly disagree.

javajosh 3y ago

I'll never understand those who don't want to travel to space. It's an enormous universe we live in, and here we are, on one (admittedly awesome) planet. There is a great deal to learn, and many adventures to be had! Note that this same conversation has happened many times in human history; some people are home bodies, some people crave adventure, and ne'er the twain shall meet. It's a deep-seated personality trait, and you can't reason people out of either position. The other point (which is really why I responded) is to note that space travel isn't just for humans. Robots, especially AI-driven robots, may be able to explore and exploit our solar system far better than bio humans ever could. It would make a nice division of responsibility: we get the Earth and her unique and valuable biosphere, they get the rest of the system and it's vast resources. I believe the relationship could be deeply symbiotic and fruitful for both cultures.

debesyla 3y ago
Question rises to me: what good could us offer to this AI?
- javajosh 3y ago
  Remember that Life has been around like 5 billion years - a continuous computation running on the most sophisticated computer in existence. I don't think we fully appreciate how special Life is, how special we are. It's likely that some manufacturing techniques will be best done, perhaps only done, by humans on Earth. There are many materials (organic ones) that are more abundant here than elsewhere - and in a more convenient location. The solar system is something like a vast desert; the Earth is like a great city. I would imagine that it will take a long time for space-based manufacturing to eclipse that of Earth, and perhaps it never will, for some things. Then of course there is the inherent interest in biological life - tourism, basically. It's hard to say because we don't really know what's possible out there. But I guarantee some products and services will remain economical to provide only on Earth in the long run. (I mean, if you posit magical nanotech then sure, we can't trade. But I think the future is more limited, and interesting, than that.) Oh, another thing we can offer is 'reboot services' in the event of intense Solar activity. In return, maybe they can deflect an asteroid or comet for us. I think it will work out!
JumpinJack_Cash 3y ago
> > has happened many times in human history Nope , this is the first time that you won't find water, plants, air when you arrive at destination. Also the first time that you'll have to live forever in a spacesuit, also the first time you won't be able to feel the elements on your skin, say goodbye to rain, wind, sun on your skin , smell of flowers, smell of rain on the soil etc. and whatever alien elements you find there, you cannot feel either because you have to be in a spacesuit the whole time. The only thing that maybe are better there than on Earth are the visuals, but that's also a question mark, not every planet has a first row view of the Pillars of Creation. At the same time the view of the Milky Way from Earthly spots such as the Atacama Desert is pretty spectacular, and for everything else there is Hubble + VR.
- javajosh 3y ago
  Okay, but you kind of totally ignored my second paragraph.

bluescrn 3y ago

Mostly the urge to explore and to learn. Partly a desire to preserve the knowledge and culture that humanity has created in the event of an extinction-level event on Earth. Messing around in low-earth orbit, or even exploring our nearest neighbours in the solar system is like dipping our toes into a vast ocean. It's a first step on a much bigger adventure, an adventure that won't happen in our lifetimes. It may seem impossible now, but crossing oceans in sailing ships, let alone aircraft, will have seemed impossible once.

JumpinJack_Cash 3y ago
> > much bigger adventure I believe that without the familiar elements waiting for us at whatever the destination might be, it would be an asylum not an adventure. If you play a word association game using the word 'adventure' the first thing that realistically come up to mind are: 1) Hike 2) Mountain bike trail 3) Motorcycle trip 4) Boat trip Etc. etc. All the above adventures have the common thing that while you are out and about you feel the elements very strongly on your skin and all your 5 senses are intensely stimulated . In space you'd be confined and in your spacesuit your whole life and you'd also be confined in the spaceship or artificial spaces. No stimulation at all, maybe only the visuals would be stimulated but you'd be mostly staring at empty space, and the space that is not empty such as clusters and stars might be beautiful to look from afar but they are so big that you can never quite touch them, unlike a flower or a sequoia.
- OkayPhysicist 3y ago
  The key features of adventure are A) risk and B) novelty. Space exploration absolutely features an abundance of both.
  - JumpinJack_Cash 3y ago
    > > The key features of adventure are A) risk and B) novelty. Space exploration absolutely features an abundance of both. If that is the case there are billions of activities ranging from unprotected sex to drug smuggling to drug consuming to riding motorcycles to hitting on wives on cartel bosses in Latin America...all right here on Earth and available to those who want to try them for a few bucks. I still mantain that feeling the elements on your skin and have all 5 senses stimulated while moving fast (but not too fast that you need protection) is the best definition of adventure and the one that most people would agree on...AKA "I'm flying Jack!!" , what would Rose say when going to space? "I am being propelled in vacuum by a mix of carbon, sulphur, and potassium nitrate, I can't feel anything because I am in my spacesuit strapped to the seat of this alluminium spaceship which I hope is airtight but this indicator here tells me I am moving faster than every human ever did, so it must be true, Jack!"

BurningFrog 3y ago

Do you seriously think that feeling no gravity would be boring?

marsven_422 3y ago

[dead]

YeGoblynQueenne 3y ago

That's a perfectly legitimate comment -you are explaining the way you feel- and it's a bit of an abuse of the down/upvote buttons to downvote it. I get that people disagree with it but it's polite and I'd say a good quality comment overall so it should be upvoted back to brightness. I'm basing this on one of dang's comments on being a "good citizen on HN": Downvoting for disagreement is not always bad, but it sometimes is. There should be some nuance here. Don't be indiscriminate. When a comment is blatantly false, downvoting is probably ok, especially when there's something else wrong with the comment. But high-quality, polite posts don't deserve penalizing just because you don't share their position. When you see one of those in negative territory, please be a good citizen and upvote it back to par. Users doing that is one of the community's self-correcting mechanisms, and it's more important now that we've made some downvotes more powerful. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7608102 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7608102 I'm trying very hard to learn to upvote high-quality, informative and civil comments with which I very strongly disagree.