

Why not space? - spenrose
http://physics.ucsd.edu/do-the-math/2011/10/why-not-space/

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johngalt
Nothing but unbridled pessimism.

The march of progress hasn't stopped just because we don't launch Saturn Vs
anymore. It has progressed rapidly on other fronts. Anyone looking at the
Apollo program should realize that it was a stunt more than a true exploratory
endeavor. In the past 40 years we've been doing the real work of increasing
our understanding of everything in the solar system. If I had to choose
between a manned mars mission and knowing about Eris/Sedna, extra-solar
planets, surface of Titan etc... I know which one I'd pick. Why not both? No
thanks, I'd still rather have the JWST instead.

The author describes the unique dangers of space, but it's not that different
than other frontiers. He describes it's uniqueness:

 _People have survived for months on the open ocean, subsisting on the
elements around them. Running out of air is not a problem. Fresh water falls
out of the sky as rain. Critters that are attracted to the cover of your life
raft provide a source of food. I recommend the book 117 Days Adrift for a
gripping account of a British couple who survived such an ordeal. Sometimes
edible fish would actually jump into their dinghy. By contrast, a hamburger
has never slammed into the side of the space shuttle in orbit_

True, but hamburgers don't slam into the side of an airplane either. Yet we
don't starve to death in airplanes despite many airlines attempts.

The voyages of Columbus were all expensive stunts and economic failures. It
was 100 years before practical use of the new world was possible. Once the
cost of a colony could be reasonably amortized and profitable they sprung up
everywhere. Better technology made this possible, not larger government trips
to farther off destinations.

Space is already being commercialized. We aren't mining asteroids yet, but we
are seeing private launch companies sending private satellites into orbit. The
costs of launches are going down, and the value in space is going up. We've
already passed the break even point for some applications.

