re: #18 Targetpractice

Engineers and scientists build robots because they’re not being paid to send men. The cost to send a man to the Moon is significantly higher than sending a robot, because the robot doesn’t need an atmosphere, doesn’t need to be fed or watered, doesn’t need to worry about becoming progressively weaker or more brittle due to microgravity, and can be allowed to expire in the cold depths of space because nobody’s worried about returning it.

Can you tell me that the wealth of technological innovation that came out of the Space Race was not worth the cost of sending men to the Moon?

Jesus that’s ridiculous. We sent men because our computer science and robotics skills were still in their infancy. I’m not addressing the past of the space program, I’m addressing it’s clear cut and obvious future. People are too expensive now, comparatively unreliable, and we get emotionally attached to them as a society so when they die it fucks us up. People, now, offer few if any advantages and come with massive liabilities. Computers, now, are comparably much more capable, reliable, affordable and expendable. If the Curiosity Rover had smashed into Mars flags wouldn’t have flown at half staff around the country, people would be a bit bummed and get on with their lives. We can’t possibly keep men on Mars for years at a time with no game plan for a return trip. Rovers don’t need to eat, they don’t require psychological exams and they don’t get emotionally involved with each other.

We should just give up on the idea that we’ll need astronauts anytime in the near future. Until we’re completely serious about creating a permanent colony / settlement on the moon we should forget about them entirely.