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In your opinion, is space exploration necessary? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by Nebulous_Keito@thelemmy.club to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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I just started thinking about it. Why is space exploration even that necessary? They're spending so much money on it when we have so much problems in our own planet..

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[–] luciferofastora@feddit.org 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The extra knowledge, research and development in everything from materials, human biology, life support systems, to just engineering management improvements yield absolutely massive benefits to life on earth, greatly outweighing the alternative.

This is the non-linear aspect of research, where discoveries and improvements in one field may prove useful for other fields as well. Not all research pays off, but you can't predict what will and won't, so the "duds" that end up going nowhere are just part of the cost for the bangers that change the world. And who knows, maybe one of those duds may end up going off much later still!

Not to mention inspiring people to enter STEM, especially girls who are still hugely underrepresented. Which has incredible benefits.

More brains and perspectives examining a given problem increases the chances for useful solutions. Getting women into STEM isn't a diversity measure for diversity's sake, but an enrichment of the mental resource pool.

because it is leaning towards profit focus instead of benefit focus

Now there's a chorus I've heard a hundred times...

[–] AMoralNihilist@feddit.uk 1 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

Agree completely!

And yeah, VCs doing VC things has really made it a tough industry to be in lately 😭 I miss the early days of new space when we were just a bunch of nerds trying to make the space industry more effective at making the world a better place.

Edit: don't get me wrong, a lot of VCs are great, and have done wonders for the industry. I've had the pleasure of working with a few of them. However, the explosion of a new industry has attracted a bunch who just see a market for a market's sake.