Billionaire Space Shots

[5030]

Reading some of the comments on here, I'd say there are already a few posters on Mars and possibly Uranus too.

Brings up the old, well worn one liner... What does the starship Enterprise have to do with a toilet seat?

It circles Uranus looking for Klingon's....

Little Monday humor....

 

[jjp8182]

Reading some of the comments on here, I'd say there are already a few posters on Mars and possibly Uranus too.

Brings up the old, well worn one liner... What does the starship Enterprise have to do with a toilet seat?

It circles Uranus looking for Klingon's....

Little Monday humor....

Now that joke is really out of this world

 

[Jchonline]

17 years for a 17 minute ride to the edge of space...Seems like a massive waste of time and resources.

 

[k0ua]

17 years for a 17 minute ride to the edge of space...Seems like a massive waste of time and resources.

It isn't. All great advancement usually come in baby steps at great initial cost. If these showy tests are successful, more advancements will be made and costs lowered. Going into space may become mundane and available to many people. You have to start somewhere.

 

[Jchonline]

It isn't. All great advancement usually come in baby steps at great initial cost. If these showy tests are successful, more advancements will be made and costs lowered. Going into space may become mundane and available to many people. You have to start somewhere.

But to what end?

 

[jerrybob]

If I had a billion dollars.....I would own a lot more tractors and attachments.

 

[k0ua]

But to what end?

For the knowledge we gain as a civilization. When we explore space, it isn't just about exploring space it is about gaining knowledge and understanding of our universe.

 

[Frankenkubota]

But to what end?

space exploration brought us the semi conductor and lots of other goodies

 

[MossRoad]

Tang!

 

[Jchonline]

space exploration brought us the semi conductor and lots of other goodies

Im not seeing semiconductor on NASA's official list. I do see CT scan machine and a few others we could argue have a reasonable impact on society. Many others are on par with what we have developed outside the space program. Im not that impressed.

Don't get me wrong I love space exploration, and honestly the best way is to let the private sector billionaires waste their money on it. However I do still feel bouncing off of the atmosphere is not really worth 17 billion. One could argue pursuing the technology to go to Mars could be better spent pursuing the technology to modernize our power grid and reduce reliance on fossil fuels (really come up with a cost effective, efficient, sustainable method of power production and storage for the next 1000 years).

I guess us peons will sit back and see how it all works out! Still exciting to watch.