"manned spaceflight is necessary to catalyse this need for R&D" actually sounds like a great argument for manned spaceflight. Not only would it catalyze technological development, but economic spending as well, specifically in highly technical fields, which would increase the job demands and encourage higher education, which would help technological and economic development even further.
No it isn't, because it isn't needed to catalyse the R&D.
Getting space enthusiasts to believe this is pretty difficult though, of course.
"I want my rockets" is a perfectly acceptable reason. Some of the largest industries in the U.S. and in the world are sports' competitions where the vast majority of the population are only spectators. Not to mention all the gaming markets and such.
No, it isn't. Just because a small and obscure bunch of people likes an idea doesn't mean everyone should fork out money for it.
Spaceflight is an accomplishment of mankind.
Accomplishment in an unlivable hyperdesert?
Accomplishment maybe, but so is building a ship in a bottle. It isn't a really efficient means of outreach now, is it?
But, for the first time in human history, even in the middle of a space race, in 1969, for a few precious moments, all of mankind, everyone as an "us", looked in awe as man set his first steps on a new world.
Tell that to the guys in the Soviet space program.
Also, the only reason spaceflight was so richly catalysed in that era was exactly the "them and us" mentality.
As a person from the US, I'd imagine you cannot really grasp the international impact of US spaceflight history first-hand. I can, and while I agree with your point, that doesn't mean everyone does.
"One small step of man, one giant leap... For mankind."
What about womankind? :lol:
This awe-inspiring level of achievement gives a dream and a hope to the people of not just the United States, but to all the people of Earth, a common objective to work towards together, in growth and expansion towards the stars.
The stars? You mean those systems out there that are
also a collection of unlivable hyperdeserts?
I really wouldn't keep bringing this point up again and again and again, unless the Earth was the richest environment for human habitation
we know of in the entire universe. And probably the richest environment for human habitation for quite a way away.
It's more than just a glamorized dream, it has substance, reality.
Exploration beyond Earth orbit
has unfortunately been a glamorized dream for the last 4 decades or so, for any space enthusiast in the modern era.
We can clearly see that the entire population was inspired by the progress of mankind during the Apollo Era, by the enrollment in higher education.
Why does it increase in 1960, and not 1969?
Ok, granted... maybe it is Sputnik and soforth, but there were also other forces going on during that time.
And college-educated workers:
Tell your Apollo success story to the discrepancy between supply and demand that appeared after 1990. :dry:
In a time where the economy, and higher education supply and demand are all dropping, and people are losing jobs, this nation, and this world needs a dream, a hope and an objective to work towards. In dark times of high unemployment rates, massive national debt, entire nations going bankrupt, failing economy and defaulting loans, this world needs an objective to work towards, to inspire younger generations to work hard, to inspire the entire world with a common goal, and promote the general welfare of the people. This is all for a measly zero-zero-zero-point-five percent of annual spending. Less than half of one percent. If two national holidays were declared - George Washington day and National Bank Holiday, then the savings could double NASA's annual budget, and take us to Mars in just five years - half the time of the Apollo era.
We're not even talking pennies on a dollar, we're talking pents on the dollar, for this, the growth of mankind.
Let's see... instituting new holidays to create savings, to spend on NASA and a mission to Mars?
How about trying to get rid of the huge US national debt?
Or fix various public services?
Or improve education?
There are so many 'real-world' applications for these things. The ideal of inspiring children to educate themselves is one thing, but the reality of actually educating them is another.
for this, the growth of mankind.
Into unlivable hyperdeserts. :dry:
Throughout history, civilizations either grow, or they stagnate and fall. We are beginning to stagnate. Jobs and production are moving to other countries, the economy is dropping, we need to grow again. We need spending in highly technical fields for people who work hard, to make product, and cause the entire economy to pick up again, by creating jobs and product, which is closely related to many other highly technical jobs and product, such as materials science, chemistry, biology, nuclear science, medicine, aerospace engineering, aeronautical engineering, all these things will all directly benefit.
That is an American problem, not a world problem. In fact, it is an oppurtunity for a lot of places, and also an oppurtunity that is being exploited by a lot of places.
Also, Earth is not a cave. There are plenty of applications for demanding technology that is used to help people right here on Earth.
This nation needs to move forward, this world needs to move forward. And to move forward we need a direction to go, an objective to work towards. To get the entire world involved, it must be a common goal of all the people of Earth. To excite and inspire, it needs to be awesome, and majestic, like the roar and the flight of the shuttle into orbit, or like the exploration and colonization of alien worlds, where man has never gone before. This nation and this world needs this objective, and this dream, to move forward in the most noble endeavor that a species can ever perform - to grow. To improve. To develop. We need manned space exploration. We need to push our boundaries, stop holding still, and start growing. We need to return to the Moon, permanently, and we need to set foot on Mars. The choice is direct and simple - stagnation and failure - or exploration, and growth.
Why is it always "growth"? What is growth worth, actually?
Do you know how many organisms grow? That does not make them special. What makes us special is our ability to do so many other things.
Our goal should be to enrich our civilisation and our global community, not to grow aimlessly. We need to
develop. Now, that does not necessarily exclude space exploration... nor does it have space exploration as a requirement. Sorry... but space exploration is not a magical goal that will solve all of humanity's problems.
You say we need to establish a permanent presence on the Moon, but it is even more difficult to justify settlement here than it is on Mars. The Moon is a wasteland.
Already efficient space exploration goes against providing oodles and oodles of government jobs. Congress supports a monstrosity launch vehicle that will bring billions of dollars to Big Aerospace and support the Shuttle legacy 'standing army' workforce.
As an example, SpaceX has a pretty striking track record, with their fixed-cost contracts with NASA, and small workforce optimised for performance rather than political pork.
The Senate Launch System, on the other hand, will only reach its "fully evolved" (and way too large anyway, but that's beside the point) version in the 2030s, will only fly once a year, and will cost a billion dollars per launch. After billions of dollars worth of development... and all this,
if it isn't cancelled.
In short, if you want to do meaningful space exploration, you actually have to step away from being a government welfare institution with 'space' slapped on the front...
My rant towards an imagined Congress meeting. Robert Zubrin had the shot once. Wish he would've gone a less technical route... Most people aren't that interested in technical stuff, especially not politicians. But emotions, every human being has.
Ah yes, Robert Zubrin, who wants to get to Mars at any cost possible...
And who makes velocity go away with Magical Aerobraking:
Yeah, I submitted to the emotional fun factor of spaceflight too. But you really have to realise the reality, that has been shouting in our face since the space age began. The vision of people like von Braun hasn't come to pass, for good reason.
And the world has moved on. We, the spaceflight enthusiasts, have not. We're still stuck in the 1950s, imagining the future.
