Is it really necessary to send humans to those places just to get the knock-on benefits? Couldn’t we do those things directly, without going there?
It seems to me that, today, those who have the money to spend on these endeavors would only do so if there were perceived short-term benefits to themselves. That means they plan to exploit the resources, or increase their own power somehow.
I know the good engineers that make this happen are doing it for the challenge and in the pursuit of knowledge, and I know that’s why we poors support it, but that doesn’t “pay the bills.” What is the motivation behind the money? Why are they really doing this?
yeah I would also like to see trying out some other things on the moon. like a space elevator can be done without even the modern materials we have today and would let us vett that stuff. I do think we should send some stuff farther afield like probes or attempting asteroid drilling or capture but only if it can be done relatively cheaply. major stuff I agree would be best to perfect close by and then add it to the repetoire to send farther out.