FWIW, Chris Columbus wasn’t exactly one of the common rabble when he got the financial backing of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella for his own little jaunt across the Great Unknown Western Ocean. But once people saw that it could be done, and what benefits it might have, it got democratized pretty fast.
My own prediction for space exploration in the next half century or so is that we’ll have retirement communities in near-Earth orbit, where old folks will live in controlled environments with low risks from germ exposure and nasty falls. And a really great view!
Wallace and Gromit were there first. They are devastated when they discover they do not have any cheese with the local corner shop closed for the Bank Holiday. Wallace decides to take a trip to the moon, as “everybody knows the moon is made of cheese.” The two build a rocket in Wallace’s basement and set off to the moon.
A lot of sci-fi writers forsee space colonization being used in the same way earthly governments have always used exploration and land grabbing…as a way to dispose of their own countries “undesirables”…i.e…..crims….the poor…the excess populations of their own countries.
But the true driving factors for any countries expansion into “new worlds” have always been commerce and profitable markets.
I posted this yesterday and it still applies today…So much to explain…why we let billionaires’ vacation in space when our country is burning because of climate change; why we sent troops to Iraq when the terrorists were from Saudi Arabia; why the Supreme Court decided corporations were people; etc.
It would be interesting to know the cost of the first moon landing updated to current (2021) dollars. (Of course there were huge—and considered necessary—expenditures for years leading up to that.) As for Branson, he went up less than two marathons of distance. (Which, I freely admit, not even the Olympic marathon champion could do, unless he happened to be a passenger on a low-flying space craft.) He could see the Earth better than usual from that height, but of course the moon was just about as far away as before.
Richard S Russell Premium Member almost 3 years ago
FWIW, Chris Columbus wasn’t exactly one of the common rabble when he got the financial backing of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella for his own little jaunt across the Great Unknown Western Ocean. But once people saw that it could be done, and what benefits it might have, it got democratized pretty fast.
My own prediction for space exploration in the next half century or so is that we’ll have retirement communities in near-Earth orbit, where old folks will live in controlled environments with low risks from germ exposure and nasty falls. And a really great view!
Radish the wordsmith almost 3 years ago
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Radish the wordsmith almost 3 years ago
Wallace and Gromit were there first. They are devastated when they discover they do not have any cheese with the local corner shop closed for the Bank Holiday. Wallace decides to take a trip to the moon, as “everybody knows the moon is made of cheese.” The two build a rocket in Wallace’s basement and set off to the moon.
Same2Ubuddy almost 3 years ago
The free market moves things forward. Government control tends to be a roadblock.
S&C = Dismayed&Depressed almost 3 years ago
A matter of supply and demand?
A lot of sci-fi writers forsee space colonization being used in the same way earthly governments have always used exploration and land grabbing…as a way to dispose of their own countries “undesirables”…i.e…..crims….the poor…the excess populations of their own countries.
But the true driving factors for any countries expansion into “new worlds” have always been commerce and profitable markets.
Radish the wordsmith almost 3 years ago
Its really funny that many of the cartoonists are using the moon to describe the billionaires going into orbit and then coming right back down.
MFRXIM Premium Member almost 3 years ago
Gilded Age tourism is obscene. We just can’t seem to burn up jet fuel fast enough.
Irate Retro almost 3 years ago
Mr. Billionaire there had the bucks to actually go to the moon rather than fake it on s sound stage.
Andylit Premium Member almost 3 years ago
Why in the world do you miss one of the most grossly mismanaged agencies in the US government?
The billionaires are doing what NASA is incapable of achieving. The profit motive will take us to Mars decades before any government program.
TheWildSow almost 3 years ago
https://youtu.be/goh2x_G0ct4
FrannieL Premium Member almost 3 years ago
I posted this yesterday and it still applies today…So much to explain…why we let billionaires’ vacation in space when our country is burning because of climate change; why we sent troops to Iraq when the terrorists were from Saudi Arabia; why the Supreme Court decided corporations were people; etc.
Godfreydaniel almost 3 years ago
It would be interesting to know the cost of the first moon landing updated to current (2021) dollars. (Of course there were huge—and considered necessary—expenditures for years leading up to that.) As for Branson, he went up less than two marathons of distance. (Which, I freely admit, not even the Olympic marathon champion could do, unless he happened to be a passenger on a low-flying space craft.) He could see the Earth better than usual from that height, but of course the moon was just about as far away as before.