What Should we do Up There?

With the economy as it is, at least in the US, space exploration has become something of an endangered endeavor. It has great potential, particularly if colonies can be established (mining the moon or Mars is a great subject in science fiction, and it does hold some promise). But the question stands whether the resources gained there would be worth the cost of getting the equipment and people needed up there and bringing them back down here. So, any ideas for low-cost industries in space?

First of all, we have gained many great inventions because of space travel. We've invented (just a few short things) cordless technology, laptops, Velcro, pressure suits (which the military uses as well), hi-def cameras, and even longer-lasting batteries. In short, we have gained benefits from space travel, right here on earth.

Secondly, mankind has always been compelled to explore. We all know Columbus, the pioneers of the 1800s, and people of that sort. Guess when the world was finished being explored? Around the 1950s. Guess when the first spacecraft was launched? 1957. Coincidence? We've always been compelled to explore, and so when we ran out of things to explore from west to east, we started exploring things that were up--and up, and up, and up. And look at what we've accomplished in the process: we have sent unmanned spacecraft to every single planet (Pluto no longer counts, but a spacecraft is on its way there), we have sent telescopes into space in order to see things that we had never seen before--indeed, that we never imagined could even exist before. We have made great observations of our universe, and have found things that make us stand in awe, wondering how in the world we missed all the stuff out there.

But it is not enough for us to just look at pictures. It'd be like Columbus sending a camera to America, left the shutter on automatic, and had it send pictures back. Think of all that we would be missing--a whole world! Mankind must go up into space to settle the urge to, in the words of a famous guy, go where no man has gone before.

The Space Shuttle program is coming to an end. The reason? Some say it's too old of hardware; some say it's because of budget cuts. But I think the biggest reason is that we have the "Been there, done that" approach. In the 50 years of manned spaceflight, over 3/5 of that has been used with the Shuttle, in conjunction with MIR and the International Space Station. What have we learned? A whole lot, and most of it is beneficial to the human body, animals and plants, and understanding 21st Century hardware. But in all those 30 years, we have done little actual exploring; the little that we have done has been from a distance, or been through use of the Shuttle as a launching craft for unmanned spacecraft voyagers. (Not the Voyager spacecraft; Galileo would be a good example on unmanned craft launched on Shuttle.) In short, for 30 years we have stayed in low Earth orbit, and we have discovered all that we can there.

You know two famous photographs, of the Earth over the lunar surface? And the other one, showing the Earth as a whole, covered in clouds and oceans? Those were taken by human beings. They were the first time anybody was able to see the Earth as we now do as granted: as nothing more than a little blue ball out in Space. Cameras on non-living machines didn't take those pictures; humans did, from a quarter of a million miles away from home. We don't go into space for experiments, and to a point it's not even for exploration. We go to space, to prove that we can. To prove the ability to travel through space, is to prove that anything within our limits as human beings, is possible.

So, what have we to gain from manned spaceflight? On top of what I just said above, think about this: how many times have you seen photos of astronauts in space, and they weren't smiling? Think about it for a moment. When it boils right down to it, why do anything at all? The simple answer: for the fun of it.

An inspiring speech. You're right, the benefit it gives to the human spirit alone ought to justify considerable expense. And what you've said raises some interesting possibilities for strictly practical gain. For instance, if space exploration yields useful knowledge about plants, who knows what breakthroughs space farming might yield?

At first, as it was said, there be very little money that will be generated in space exploration by now. Actually , no country can mantain a space station, not even a colony on another planet. I belive that in next 50 years there will be new kind of propulsion, based on "space moving around the ship" and the road to another planets, not solar systems will be opened. Though, space exploration (i´m talking about satellites) already brings much more benefits, and costs less and less. New cures have been discovered, created without gravity , so the different materials don´t mix. And atomical fusion, the possible "Energy of the future was discovered by unically watching the stars. I´m optimistic about that,(Have seen new spacecraft in MAKS 2011) but I don´´t think that in next 10-20 years any country will explore/discover anything of big importance.

P.S. It was said that the developing spaceship may be ready for 2015, and for 2018 is planned the first manned flight. There are also community researches about possibility of building a nuclear propulsed spaceship that may make a roundtrip to Mars in 2 mounths. It may be possible (the creation of such a mashine) in 2035.

Something Interesting:
When Gagarin landed, he first was seen by some scared villagers, who hardly could write. The first thing they asked him was -"Have you seen God there"
Gagarin: Nope, I have't seen anything. Only the spacecraft.

When Armstrong landed, he was (I don´t know if firstly or secondly) If he has seen the "green aliens" on the Moon. He answered that no.

What will they ask to those who will fly to Mars????

I am actually VERY interested in what they are going to say after they get back. "Well, it was red..."

RomiX wrote:Something Interesting:
When Gagarin landed, he first was seen by some scared villagers, who hardly could write. The first thing they asked him was -"Have you seen God there"
Gagarin: Nope, I have't seen anything. Only the spacecraft.

When Armstrong landed, he was (I don´t know if firstly or secondly) If he has seen the "green aliens" on the Moon. He answered that no.

What will they ask to those who will fly to Mars????

I wonder if anyone asked Gagarin if he had seen his brain either.