Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Landing

[Sierra Lyricalia]

Do you not find space interesting?

It's interesting. Lots of things are interesting. That doesn't mean we should spend tens of billions of dollars on them that would be better used solving actual problems. "We haven't landed on the moon" is not a problem.

As for the OP: this is worth the read.

...It’s saying that we’re going to the moon because it’s very hard to go to the moon, and, well, we really want to see if we can pull it off.

This is such a beautiful, irrational, wonderful human trait, this desire to do and create glorious and technically useless things and acts. This desire is the foundation of all art, from the most numinous Rothko to the shiniest Koons. It’s music and comedy and jelly beans that taste like chili and daredevils in star-spangled helmets attempting to jump ravines on motorcycles. It’s everything that on paper contributes nothing to the actual business of living but at the same time makes bothering to keep living worth anything at all.

That last bit is sorely lacking. Our greatest ambitions now are prosaic and dull, and there seems to be so little to look forward to. We settle for shit because some flavors of shit are slightly less nasty than other flavors, and we despair of ever again tasting wonder and triumph. That is our undoing.

[Punished UMN]

It's interesting. Lots of things are interesting. That doesn't mean we should spend tens of billions of dollars on them that would be better used solving actual problems. "We haven't landed on the moon" is not a problem.

Because it's a good argument. What did we actually gain by going to the moon? Very little. It was mostly a waste of time and energy. It's a passion project.

Space exploration has replaced religion as the opium of the masses.

[Bear Stearns]

Space exploration has replaced religion as the opium of the masses.

lol no it hasn't. most people don't give a shit about space. you're thinking of racial grievance politics.

[Valrifell]

(Image)

Because it's a good argument. What did we actually gain by going to the moon? Very little. It was mostly a waste of time and energy. It's a passion project.

Space exploration has replaced religion as the opium of the masses.

Breakthroughs in fiber optics and telecommunications which indirectly led to the development of the Internet, actually.

Most pursuits in science will eventually yield material progress, no matter how shortsighted you are or how novel these discoveries seem to be.

But there is no rationality in the absurd wonder of this feat.

[Punished UMN]

Because it's a good argument. What did we actually gain by going to the moon? Very little. It was mostly a waste of time and energy. It's a passion project.

Space exploration has replaced religion as the opium of the masses.

Breakthroughs in fiber optics and telecommunications which indirectly led to the development of the Internet, actually.

Most pursuits in science will eventually yield material progress, no matter how shortsighted you are or how novel these discoveries seem to be.

But there is no rationality in the absurd wonder of this feat.

Did we need to go to space to do that? No.

[Aclion]

Time to watch this again.

Yeah, it's totally insane that we wasted so much effort to go to a big dumb lifeless rock.

You're just salty the Soviet Union couldn't do it.

[Valrifell]

Breakthroughs in fiber optics and telecommunications which indirectly led to the development of the Internet, actually.

Most pursuits in science will eventually yield material progress, no matter how shortsighted you are or how novel these discoveries seem to be.

But there is no rationality in the absurd wonder of this feat.

Did we need to go to space to do that? No.

There would have been no direct pressure to develop these technologies. Yes.

[Punished UMN]

Time to watch this again.

Yeah, it's totally insane that we wasted so much effort to go to a big dumb lifeless rock.

You're just salty the Soviet Union couldn't do it.

Yeah, I'm salty the Soviet Union wasted money on more useful things.

Did we need to go to space to do that? No.

There would have been no direct pressure to develop these technologies. Yes.

Space exploration wasn't a direct pressure, we invented the pressure. Not being in space is an imaginary problem.

[Aeritai]

Time to watch this again.

Yeah, it's totally insane that we wasted so much effort to go to a big dumb lifeless rock.

You're just salty the Soviet Union couldn't do it.

To be fair the Soviets technically won the Space Race, since they were the first ones to send a satellite into space.

EDIT: Turns out the Germans technically won the Space Race before it started since they launched a V2 rocket pass the Kármán line.

[Bear Stearns]

Time to watch this again.


You're just salty the Soviet Union couldn't do it.

To be fair the Soviets technically won the Space Race, since they were the first ones to send a satellite into space.

The Third Reich was the first country to breach Earth's atmosphere.

[Valrifell]

Time to watch this again.


You're just salty the Soviet Union couldn't do it.

Yeah, I'm salty the Soviet Union wasted money on more useful things.

There would have been no direct pressure to develop these technologies. Yes.

Space exploration wasn't a direct pressure, we invented the pressure. Not being in space is an imaginary problem.

An invented pressure which led to the creation of some of the things essential for modern living. Such as microchips and the CAT scan.

That it wasn't a material pressure doesn't mean the things it created were any less beneficial for humanity and that the direct goal was absurd (but in a cool way) doesn't mean it was worthless.

Materialists are no fun. If everything were purely about maximizing survival and comfort, we'd have less of both.

[Aeritai]

To be fair the Soviets technically won the Space Race, since they were the first ones to send a satellite into space.

The Third Reich was the first country to breach Earth's atmosphere.

Ah nvm then.

[Bear Stearns]

The Third Reich was the first country to breach Earth's atmosphere.

Ah nvm then.

It is correct that the Soviets put the first satellite into space, but the Nazis put the first object into space (which promptly disintegrated).

[Punished UMN]

Yeah, I'm salty the Soviet Union wasted money on more useful things.


Space exploration wasn't a direct pressure, we invented the pressure. Not being in space is an imaginary problem.

An invented pressure which led to the creation of some of the things essential for modern living. Such as microchips and the CAT scan.

That it wasn't a material pressure doesn't mean the things it created were any less beneficial for humanity and that the direct goal was absurd (but in a cool way) doesn't mean it was worthless.

Materialists are no fun. If everything were purely about maximizing survival and comfort, we'd have less of both.

I'm not a materialist. I don't see the moral value in exploring space.

[Aeritai]

Ah nvm then.

It is correct that the Soviets put the first satellite into space, but the Nazis put the first object into space (which promptly disintegrated).

Yeah now I know that thanks for the information!

[Valrifell]

An invented pressure which led to the creation of some of the things essential for modern living. Such as microchips and the CAT scan.

That it wasn't a material pressure doesn't mean the things it created were any less beneficial for humanity and that the direct goal was absurd (but in a cool way) doesn't mean it was worthless.

Materialists are no fun. If everything were purely about maximizing survival and comfort, we'd have less of both.

I'm not a materialist. I don't see the moral value in exploring space.

There is inherent moral value in expanding the sum total of human knowledge through scientific, artistic, or philosophical, expression. imo.

[Aeritai]

In your opinion guys who do you think actually won the Space Race?

[Punished UMN]

I'm not a materialist. I don't see the moral value in exploring space.

There is inherent moral value in expanding the sum total of human knowledge through scientific, artistic, or philosophical, expression. imo.

Yeah and you don't need to build a rocket and go to the moon to do that.

[Farnhamia]

In your opinion guys who do you think actually won the Space Race?

Yes.

[Xmara]

We need to invest more in space exploration. Maybe one day we can set up a moon base.

[Agarntrop]

In your opinion guys who do you think actually won the Space Race?

Earth.

Space should be an international endeavour.

[Valrifell]

There is inherent moral value in expanding the sum total of human knowledge through scientific, artistic, or philosophical, expression. imo.

Yeah and you don't need to build a rocket and go to the moon to do that.

Yes we did. To conclusively prove Galileo's theories on rate of fall not depending on the mass of the thing falling, for instance.

[Exalted Inquellian State]

There is inherent moral value in expanding the sum total of human knowledge through scientific, artistic, or philosophical, expression. imo.

Yeah and you don't need to build a rocket and go to the moon to do that.

Going to space is really hard you know. We measured our knowledge of mathematics, astronomy, and multiple other fields by going to the moon.

[Aclion]

In your opinion guys who do you think actually won the Space Race?

The Western Bloc. Even politically the space race was about more then dick measuring. Superiority in aerospace meant an edge in nuclear defense, and the pressure to compete in a field where the US had the technological advantage contributed to the overspending on defense programs that crippled the Soviet Union.

[-Astoria-]

In your opinion guys who do you think actually won the Space Race?

Mais oui.