Deep dive this week on our purpose for space exploration. Or, more precisely, the multiple purposes.
There’s no particularly new content to mention. It does highlight some past successes and terrestrial spin-offs, and look forward to coming space-inspired tech.
There’s a bit of cheerleading for societal (government!) investment in these pursuits, prompting an occasional eye-roll, but not annoyingly so.
Personally, I would much rather see our governments spending our money on space exploration than on weapons of war. Unfortunately, Our Betters see things differently.
It is difficult to predict the potential benefits of stepping into the unknown. Space has brought us cheap international phone calls and GPS, which definitely have improved things for many of us. But it is tough to make the cost/benefit calculation.
If we think about human behavior, probably the main driver for government expenditures on space technology has been FOMO – the Fear Of Missing Out. Why else would a country with many problems/opportunities on the surface of the planet such as India be sending missions to the Moon?