[thedoc (OP)]

Apart from the obvious military use of the moon, what is the point of space exploration?
Asked by Steve (by text)


                                       

Go to the show page.

                                       

[chapter podcast=2816 track=10.09.12/Naked_Scientists_Show_10.09.12_7134.mp3]  or Listen to the Answer[/chapter] or [download as MP3]

[thedoc (OP)]

Dominic -    Well i guess it's driven a lot of technological advance in the last 30 yers or so. I mean the Apollo Missions certainly inspired people to create technology that they wouldnt have created otherwise.
Dave -   And GPS is really useful and we've found out a lot about the Earth - you can send up satellites up to find out where the forests are - there's a huge amount you can find out about the Earth from space.
Chris -   And on last week's show, my interview with Peter Quinn, who's in Australia - he's the Director of the institute they've set up to try and get the square kilometer array in Australia. He pointed out that wifi is entirely based in terms of its protocols on radio astronomy, and the world wide web - with CERN saying 'we're going to have all these big projects and we need ways for physicists to talk to each other' - that directly catalysed the development of html, the language that made the web possible. So i think there are all these other spin offs that we can thank the exlploration for.
Dave -   Plus just finding out what's out there!

[CZARCAR]

Q= how far out is space exploration economically viable.....from hindsight

[Soul Surfer]

There are two important branches for this question

firstly  robotic space exploration,  scientific knowledge,  important to learn about the solar system and put very sensitive long range sensors in space. It might be possible to put a very high velocity extremely deep space probe way outside the solar system but I am not sure that we have enough patience or equipment reliability to get to even the nearest stars because any practical probe would take more than a human lifetime to get there.

Secondly manned space exploration.  Initially to show we can do it, but going much beyond the moon possibly or Mars is extremely dubious on risks and value for money.  Human beings are very heavy and need enormous life support systems for long space voyages.

[simplified]

There are two important branches for this question

firstly  robotic space exploration,  scientific knowledge,  important to learn about the solar system and put very sensitive long range sensors in space. It might be possible to put a very high velocity extremely deep space probe way outside the solar system but I am not sure that we have enough patience or equipment reliability to get to even the nearest stars because any practical probe would take more than a human lifetime to get there.

Secondly manned space exploration.  Initially to show we can do it, but going much beyond the moon possibly or Mars is extremely dubious on risks and value for money.  Human beings are very heavy and need enormous life support systems for long space voyages.

Does humanity have reliable atomic clock for such travels?

[neilep]

Why is it ' obvious ' that the moon be used for military use ?

[syhprum]

If a war broke out for control of the Moon we would have to quickly develop our space travel resources so that we could get involved.

[neilep]

If a war broke out for control of the Moon we would have to quickly develop our space travel resources so that we could get involved.

Is it possible for war to break out for control of the moon ?...Surely it would take a culture capable of controlling the moon, that, to make war about it would be silly and self destructive !

[Pmb]

You can never know where science can lead us. I can think of, or recall, the following reasons:

1) We've study the stars for hundreds, if not thousands of years. What did we find out? We found out that an extinction level event is on the way from an asteroid/commet and unless we use science to help maneuver it from crashing Earth and causing an extinction level event, Homesapiens will disappear from the universe.

2) By studying stars we can learn something about our own star, Sol.

3) Studying the science of space travel and satellite physics, we might never have created the GPS system, which had the end effect of causing less casualties and less noncombatants etc.

4) There are things that can be manufactured in orbit that can't be made on Earth.

I know that the last two  were only required to orbits around the Earth so its like a mini use of what we've learned about the stars.

[simplified]

Probably on the moon the people brains better work  , there  optimum gravitation is. []

[yor_on]

Maybe we can seed the universe
If we now find worlds that can hold our kind of life.

Or maybe we shouldn't, it's like always, we won't know until we tried.
And as Soulsurfer said, the future isn't with big manned spacecrafts. It's with small miniaturized ones, able to create their own propulsion.

[mao]

to finde another place for human beings. too many people now

[CliffordK]

I hope the moon won't be militarized, at least not with respect to terrestrial affairs.  Assuming we do eventually colonize the moon, I suppose some defensive capabilities will be inevitable.  And, there have been questions whether we need to build a defense from natural phenomenon from space.  An alien invasion would seem unlikely.

Will people move to the moon as part of colonies tied to terrestrial governments, or as an independent nation?  One lunar nation?

I would envision the moon itself as being a stepping stone for further space explanation.

The Dark Side of the moon is really dark every 15 days, and would be an excellent place for large telescopes.  During the lunar night, there would be no light pollution from Earth, and no atmospheric interference.  One may also be able to put telescopes in polar craters to shield them from light sources, and also provide a stable temperature environment.  There have also been suggestions that the dark side of the moon would also be good for space based radio telescopes, shielded from terrestrial radio signals. 

The moon would also be a natural place for a ground-based spaceship accelerator.  There is a smaller gravity well on the moon than on the surface of the Earth, and no atmospheric resistance. 

One may also be able to derive rocket fuels from the lunar surface which would enable refueling rockets in space prior to trips to other planets, or even out of the solar system.

I suppose the question remains as to WHY?

We may choose to build a new home for terrestrial life and humanity on the moon and other planets.  I don't envision a grand exodus as the expense and resources for space travel be great. 

And, thus similarly to the way Europeans populated the "New World", they didn't depopulate the "Old World".

People have always been curious about "What is out there?", and the only way to get an answer is to actually look for the answers.

A space colony would also provide a backup, in case some calamity would befall Earth, or perhaps a virulent viral infection wiping out humanity.

There have been questions on whether ³He will be the fuel for tomorrow's world.  Unfortunately it is very rare in the Earth's crust.  ³He is different from the more common ⁴He which is essentially a radioactive decay product.  There is speculation that it could be mined on either the moon, or perhaps Jupiter.

Would there be benefits of building a lunar particle accelerator?  Perhaps one could more effectively build an antimatter generator/trap on the moon than on Earth due to the decreased atmospheric particle count.