space exploration is quite simply a kick to the human ego, whilst burning enough money to end poverty worldwide while doing it. But there’s no profit to be made in caring for the poor, so fuck that idea, hey Jeff Bezos you cunt?
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I think you’re underestimating (vastly) the extent of the inequality in the world if you think that all of the current expenditure for space exploration (or even all space activities full stop) can solve that problem.
I think you’re picking the wrong argument, in all fairness.
Branson, Bezos and Musk are having a “who has the bigger dick/rocket” competition right now and you’re worried about semantic numbers as to how much money it would take to end world proverty.
Really? Does it matter?
If that’s aimed at me I suggest you reread my post
no, sorry (forgot the quote), it was to Semmy.
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not, it’s addressed to me
pretty sure the $650B that Nasa alone has spent would put a pretty good dent in the world’s poverty issues, if they were to work on building infrastructure to make poor areas more self-sustainable. even just clean water and irrigation projects to develop farming?
I don’t have the answer to solving the world’s problems. just with the MOUNTAINS of our money that the collective governments spend wouldn’t be so frivolous.
That’s not quite true. Musk has utterly revolutionised the orbital space launch for cargo and humans market whereas the other two are building glorified thrill rides.
I’m sorry but it really does. Every system since time began has tried (and failed) to solve inequality and poverty. A few 10s of billions (which is what they are spending at the max) or even a trillion (what the US likely spends on defence) is not going to solve that.
wrt the dick waving comp., i actually don’t care which one wins, the world is full of dicks and pussies anyway. However, if we can get some meaningful capability out of this then I’m all for it. I’m not a fan of any of them and not Bezos in particular but if his goal is to get all heavy industry off earth - well, what’s not to like? Agreed that might not be his primary or indeed not his motive at all but the benefits of getting space open as a new frontier would be worth it - in my opinion of course.
I’m pretty sure NASA’s budget has been <20 billion dollars / year for decades.
pretty sure a google search will give you more accurate numbers. now that’s just NASA. add all the rest of the space agencies. the numbers are staggering. yet you think it’s not enough, well then I guess we’ll just continue on with the status quo then, hey? fuck it.
it’s close enough. all of the satellites in space aren’t really improving the basics of life for the majority of the impoverished. “cargo and humans market” and his huge chains of satellites orbiting the earth, for what purpose?
How are you currently posting on this forum?
As to Starlink, Musk freely admits that that is to generate revenue so he can finish Starship and go to Mars. He really does think big. Could that money be spent on earth? It is, wages, hardware, research, infrastructure etc etc etc.
I use Google Earth every day, just an example of the utter brilliance of satellites.
I think we will have to agree to disagree.
internet isn’t supported by satellites, my dear friend. it’s via a massive fibre-optic network on the ocean floor. the backbone of the internet is land and ocean based, not space.
I would question the amount of day-to-day services that satellites now provide us. Believe most of it now to be either science-based for monitoring, or surveillance.
Musk’s starlink will be useful to remote/rural areas but that’s pandering to probably 5% of the broadband market. and it’s not getting rave reviews:
One thing to throw into the fire pit. Telescopes in orbit.
These dont just produce lovely pictures, they are used to increase our understanding of the universe and all its ingredients. That can ultimately lead to things like providing more climate friendly sources of energy.
Side note. James Webb launches this December I believe.
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No it’s not but the location data google uses will likely be from the GPS, GLONASS or Galileo satellite networks
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without it, Pokemon Go would be useless!
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