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bookers555 t1_ixeqeo6 wrote

Reply to comment by DeadFyre in Bruno Le Maire: Europe needs ‘unwavering unity’ against China, US in space by Soupjoe5

I have no idea why people so ignorant on the technologies that space travel research has brought us even come to the space subreddit. Seems like this sub has way too many people for whom science is just knowing "fun facts".

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GameTourist t1_ixeuieo wrote

exactly that, and it also completely ignores the economic stimulus it generates

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DeadFyre t1_ixftkrq wrote

I'm perfectly aware of what technologies were pioneered in the Space Race. That was 60 years ago, and there's no reason to believe any of those technologies required a lunar mission to achieve. But that's not my principal objection. You want to fund scientific research, I am with you. You want to fund research into the physics necessary to unlock energy sources that can get us to an adjacent solar system, I am on board.

What we're doing is none of those things. We're re-using 1960's technology to go back to a place we've already been, and thence re-using 1960's technology to visit another planet in the solar system, and plant a flag and a plaque. That's IT. There's no payoff, no other objective, no practical payoff for the billions in taxpayer dollars and millions of tons of CO2 we'll be producing to carry of what can only be a P.R. stunt.

We don't have the technology to terraform Mars, or to even build a permanent settlement there. You want to colonize the solar system? Start by creating a self-sufficient settlement in Antarctica. Because that's about a hundred times more feasible than Mars. Prove you can do that, and then we'll talk.

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