Lake on Titan?

[C0ckney]

i've got nothing against science, and it ain't my money being spent here so i don't mind. generally though i'd say that there are better uses for money, other scientific uses certainly, than looking for lakes on far off moons.

[Japher]

generally though i'd say that there are better uses for money, other scientific uses certainly, than looking for lakes on far off moons

That is a very narrow minded view.

Space exploration, on the surface, may appear to be impractical, but it is far from it. Without the space programs efforts to reach out to distant planets, stars, and even asteroids we would miss out on a lot of inventions that otherwise would not exist (assuming, of course, that necessity is the mother of invention).

[Brundlefly]

Originally posted by Spiffor
Science deserves funding, for it creates the conditions of a better life for the future generations. Nowadays, with our cell phones, with our planes, with our electricity, we benefit from the effort made by our forefathers. I don't see why we should stop our efforts now.

Because education, assistance to the poor, and research on alternate energy sources are just a few of the more urgent issues society faces which are not sufficiently funded.

Newton? You prove my point then. Newton, to use your example, could not have made his mark in history without sufficient education. Education is insufficiently funded in this country. Sponsoring the academic work of a Newton is not the same as sponsoring a trip to a distant planet to take some photographs.. I doubt if any of Newton's experiments cost the government hundreds of millions of dollars like this trip to Titan has. What exactly is the ROI of this trip to Titan? I would love to know why the government signed off on this project. I'll bet it is because it enabled some defense contractors to get some work..

Why does US have to be leader of space research intitiatives anyway? If these excursions to distant planets really must be done, I would welcome more international involvement and cooperation with financing them.

[Lancer]

That white spot in the lake...is that a boat? Yeah...it is, and those are...girls in the boat. MY GOODNESS THEY"RE NEKKED!

Space program, YES!

[Ninot]

Originally posted by Lancer
That white spot in the lake...is that a boat? Yeah...it is, and those are...girls in the boat. MY GOODNESS THEY"RE NEKKED!

Space program, YES!

Lancer's right. We need space exploration so we can start getting it on with hot space babes.

[C0ckney]

Originally posted by Japher


That is a very narrow minded view.

Space exploration, on the surface, may appear to be impractical, but it is far from it. Without the space programs efforts to reach out to distant planets, stars, and even asteroids we would miss out on a lot of inventions that otherwise would not exist (assuming, of course, that necessity is the mother of invention).

i'm gonna stick my neck out here and say that taking a few photos of some distant moon isn't going to do much as far as 'new inventions' are concerned.

[Lancer]

To mankind's first gill job.

[Anaximander]

No, but photos are the first steps towards more in depth exploration.

[Japher]

i'm gonna stick my neck out here and say that taking a few photos of some distant moon isn't going to do much as far as 'new inventions' are concerned.

You're right, the actual taking of the picture does nothing to invent anything. However, what if someone now says "lets collect a sample of that lake 'water', and pick up one of them space chicks while we're at it."?

The technological advancements that may occur in order to create something that can land on the moon, collect a sample, and then return back to earth safely may prove to be advantages to more than just the space program.

Without the space program we wouldn't have a lot of advances that we have today that improve our quality and quantity of life.

(Note: my brother-in-law has to work late this Saturday night as he is part of a crew that is working to land a probe or something on some asteroid)

[Anaximander]

mmmmmmmmmm........space chicks.........

[Japher]

Here's a list that makes a good start, but the didn't include their improvements in material sciences nor the pen that writes upside down.

http://www.thespaceplace.com/nasa/spinoffs.html

[Brundlefly]

How well do you think Live 8 would go over if it were dedicated to raising awareness of insufficient funding for space research?

Why isn't space research on the agenda of G-8?

It's obvious that mankind has more pressing issues than space exploration. Why arent we channelling all of our energy and resources into solving those problems..

[Anaximander]

Because most of those problems are unsolvable. Instead lets channel our money into getting off this crummy rock.

[Lancer]

There's a whole big bloody wonderful universe out there, and here we are.

[Sandman]

The level of technology needed to mine Titan would probably allow the resources to be synthesised more cheaply on Earth.

That's not a reason to not explore it, of course. Space exploration is vital for the long-term survival of the human race, and it's fun as well.