5 ms·

Money is infinite but resources needed to send a probe outta space are quite limited

bastawhiz 2y ago
You're right, we should get more kids into STEM!
sph 2y ago
Then let's not spend any resources but instead spend time weeping. It's not like stockpiling plutonium, gold, iridium and other rare earths metals used in spaceships is gonna make the world any better. Should we instead force the scientists working on this to abandon space research to "fix the ills of the world" so they do "something useful" instead? I honestly don't know what people who keep complaining about scientific research, especially space exploration, want. It is not those billions spent to send a probe to Europa the cause or the solution to the world's problems. Hint: it is not money the cause nor the solution to the world's problems, nor are drive-by social media activists complaining about it.
- pclmulqdq 2y ago
  A big part of why this kind of space research is worth doing is weapons development. That is a big part of why huge money goes to space research - because it's more efficient to give that cash to JPL than to Raytheon in terms of developing certain kinds of rocketry and robotics technologies. In comparison, many other branches of science work on much leaner budgets, and sending stuff to space actually does look very wasteful from a "$ per paper" perspective. If you disregard the weapons development value, there is actually very little reason to do these big-money experiments that could instead support the research of hundreds or thousands of more frugal science experiments. At the same time, there are lots of ways to do space research more cheaply, like launching small satellites. Most of the people who don't like this stuff are against the billion-dollar single missions rather than against astrophysics or against the concept of sending things to space. Many of them also are against the FCC project at CERN, for example.
jsbg 2y ago
It's the other way around. Money is finite and the curiosity we want to satisfy is infinite.
- ttoinou 2y ago
  In our financial system money can be created at will
  - jsbg 2y ago
    Printing money is not the same thing as creating value.
    - ttoinou 2y ago
      Everybody knows that but you’re the one who just said « money is finite »

You're right, we should get more kids into STEM!

sph 2y ago

Then let's not spend any resources but instead spend time weeping. It's not like stockpiling plutonium, gold, iridium and other rare earths metals used in spaceships is gonna make the world any better. Should we instead force the scientists working on this to abandon space research to "fix the ills of the world" so they do "something useful" instead? I honestly don't know what people who keep complaining about scientific research, especially space exploration, want. It is not those billions spent to send a probe to Europa the cause or the solution to the world's problems. Hint: it is not money the cause nor the solution to the world's problems, nor are drive-by social media activists complaining about it.

pclmulqdq 2y ago
A big part of why this kind of space research is worth doing is weapons development. That is a big part of why huge money goes to space research - because it's more efficient to give that cash to JPL than to Raytheon in terms of developing certain kinds of rocketry and robotics technologies. In comparison, many other branches of science work on much leaner budgets, and sending stuff to space actually does look very wasteful from a "$ per paper" perspective. If you disregard the weapons development value, there is actually very little reason to do these big-money experiments that could instead support the research of hundreds or thousands of more frugal science experiments. At the same time, there are lots of ways to do space research more cheaply, like launching small satellites. Most of the people who don't like this stuff are against the billion-dollar single missions rather than against astrophysics or against the concept of sending things to space. Many of them also are against the FCC project at CERN, for example.

jsbg 2y ago

It's the other way around. Money is finite and the curiosity we want to satisfy is infinite.

ttoinou 2y ago
In our financial system money can be created at will
- jsbg 2y ago
  Printing money is not the same thing as creating value.
  - ttoinou 2y ago
    Everybody knows that but you’re the one who just said « money is finite »