Quote:
Originally Posted by Cappy
Why would we go back? more moon rocks? what is the practical purpose of going back other than the original dick measuring contest between two super powers?
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Technology, plain and simple. We need a closer testing ground on how to build bases / structures / living environments that are not earth. Moon is an easy testing ground when compared to Mars.
People will say well why do we need that kind of technology when we have "bigger" problems on earth. Reality is alot of the technology thats invented for space travel / exploration eventually makes it to the consumer market.
The accelerometer found in your phones was modernized because of the space program (they did exist before but sucked).
Space habitats especially when it comes to life support technology have huge practical applications for todays earth problems.
Few examples:
- Recycling water with low energy requirements, this will be super usefull for drought ridden areas.
- CO2 processing for Methane and O2 production (what SpaceX wants to do on Mars for insitu fuel production) can be scaled to remove CO2 from our atmosphere (see sabatier reaction).
- Asteroid mining will bring the costs of rare earth metals to fractions of what they are today. metals that are needed for EV and green technology
These are just a couple that are obvious. There will be plenty of technology applications that are not even fathomable at the moment that will come out of this.
Space exploration is worth every damn penny.