Obama Nasa plans 'catastrophic' say Moon astronauts

[Gawdzilla Sama]

There are a lot more things to be done than putting Meatsacks on the moon .

Feck, if we get a steady supply of H3 we can maybe get the fusion reactors going sooner, meaning cheaper energy with less junk in the trunk.

[Clinton Huxley]

I seriously, suspect that unless we have a Global Space Agency, rather than split on nationalistic or continental lines, then going anywhere other than orbit, or at most "a quick visit to the moon", is not going to be possible due to the cost.

I'm not sure a "UN of space travel" would be much of an improvement.....

[AshtonBlack]

It seems that alot of people on this thread buy into the popular (and, I might add, "populist") myth about the supposedly huge amounts of money that are spent on space exploration.


If we were to divert the money being spent worldwide on space exploration to the "more important" earthbound matters, it would amount to the tiniest drop in the ocean.

Did I say that?

I said, robotic missions are more cost effective. Not divert money into other things.

[Clinton Huxley]

It seems that alot of people on this thread buy into the popular (and, I might add, "populist") myth about the supposedly huge amounts of money that are spent on space exploration.


If we were to divert the money being spent worldwide on space exploration to the "more important" earthbound matters, it would amount to the tiniest drop in the ocean.

Depends on how you slice the statistical cake. The UK civil space budget is about £250 million per annum. In terms of overall UK public spending this is indeed peanuts. However, if all of this were, say, diverted to wind or wave power research or whatever, the return might well be more significant and of more immediate benefit. The same applies to any national space budget.
There is a finite pot of money and whatever is spent on space research can't, obviously, be spent on something else.