Exploring space with or without war

[Deleted]

I was watching Neil deGrasse Tyson star talk out of boredom and lack of much else to do, and i find his opinions really intriguing. This is about what he said at 34 minutes in (I'll link at the bottom if you want to see it), something along the lines of America will only fund a space program if someone leaked info that the Chinese are going to build a military base in space (false or true), America would react the same as they did with the Russians in the Cold War and a new wave of space exploration would ensue. Of course he is exaggerating, i doubt he would actually want a real war (although I'm assuming :P).

This got me thinking, as much as I desire space exploration, do I really want to go into space with war on out backs ready to come out like Neil suggested. Would it spread war into space, or just be that fear that we never fall to?
After that I thought why don't we just wait until we solve our problems first, however this could mean we never go to space, we may never gain a complete peace. If we do however it would be the ideal position to go to space in, but people may never gain the drive to want to since there's no need due to peace.

What are your thoughts? Do you favor Neils idea? The idea of after sorting out our own problems? Or just never explore?

link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVg-snQdrms

Edit: Just realized, this is more or less aimed at America since funding for NASA has been shut down, so the only method for western society to go to space is through the east or is NASA is rebooted. However the idea is if this is to happen a possible war must be present, we will just drag war into space with us. The other option is about all our food, money and health issues solved so the government has nothing better to do than fund NASA again, and space without war; the problem is we may not want to explore if we have peace and live comfortably.

[obdigore]

We should both sort out our own problems here and explore and colonize other planets/asteroids/systems/galaxies/dimensions.

[semaphore]

If we're going to solve all our problems before exploring space, that might as well be saying we won't be exploring space...

It's not like the developed democractic states are going to war against each other in any forseeable future right now anyway. Those are the nations who are capable, and should continue and in even expand space exploration.

[atollon]

For the time being the idea of a cold war seems to be more or less dead. As far as I can tell the only countries that would have anywhere near the economic resources to pull off any sort of real space program are the U.S, China, and the EU, and all three of them are so linked together either economically or politically that there's no chance of a real conflict between them. Also, aren't there a few international treaties about militarizing space?

That being said, conflict and competition are much better motivators than scientific curiosity, so who knows maybe it would be better. It would certainly be quicker.

[Sayl]

Just realized, this is more or less aimed at America since funding for NASA has been shut down, so the only method for western society to go to space is through the east or is NASA is rebooted.

This is a persistent misconception. While NASA's budget is lacking with regard to the tasks they've been assigned, it's far from having been shut down. The primary reason people seem to have this idea is due to the shuttle fleet having been retired before new launch & crew vehicles were ready to take their place.

This doesn't mean that there won't be new launch and crew vehicles -- they're currently in development with a first (uncrewed) test flight coming in 2017, in advance of a crewed circumlunar mission (currently targeted for 2021).

This hiatus in NASA's human launch capability would have happened even if the previous administration's Vision for Space Exploration policies (which called for a series of manned lunar missions in advance of sending astronauts to Mars and/or beyond) had remained intact. Long story short, the agency's current lack of human launch capability is the result of many years of political failures to plan ahead.

NASA's current intentions here are twofold: 1) to contract private companies to perform regular crew launches to the ISS, just like they're doing with cargo now; 2) to implement two or three new launch configurations of their own as both a backup to private sector vehicles for sending humans to low-earth orbit, as well as beyond, in accordance with the goals currently included in US space policy (e.g. sending human missions to asteroids as well as Mars). In other words, NASA envisions private companies doing the "small" stuff while they do the "big" stuff.

It's only until all the new systems can be implemented that NASA has drawn up contracts with Roscosmos for astronaut launches to the ISS. If everything goes according to schedule, industry leaders like SpaceX will be ferrying astronauts to the ISS for the last three or four years of its currently planned operations.

Where we go from there is, yet again, all at the whim of future presidents and members of congress.

[Kalyyn]

I wouldn't mind another cold war. The first one worked out pretty well. It did get us to the moon, after all.

[Sayl]

I wouldn't mind another cold war. The first one worked out pretty well. It did get us to the moon, after all.

The rest of it rather sucked though.

[Deleted]

I would imagine it to be quite difficult when we finally find a planet we can colonize, if it is first come first serve one side of the world will be left here on a dried up ball of dirt, spending years and years resenting the other for it.

[Ryuukon]

Where is the option to vote for exploring space without the threat of war?

Oh right, there is none.

This poll is pre-loaded.

[Deleted]

I think the vast amounts of resources that can be found outside of earth will be a major factor in future space exploration.

[Nakura Chambers]

The rest of it rather sucked though.

You're sadly mistaken. Pretty much every single technology you take for granted, including the internet, was created from the Cold War. It also resulted in securing America's place as the world hegemon.

[Giants41]

The cold war really did create a lot of amazing technology but i don't know if i want to live in fear for the sake of exploration... if i knew nothing was going to happen than sure but considering i live in NY i'd have to say no...

[openair]

Whether or not war between human nations occures during exploration and colonization of space is not a matter of "want." Real war is never a matter of "i want," because that is the definition of war. Two opposing wills that want to change things. If they want something different, what i want is irrelevant to them.

This hiatus in NASA's human launch capability would have happened even if the previous administration's Vision for Space Exploration policies (which called for a series of manned lunar missions in advance of sending astronauts to Mars and/or beyond) had remained intact. Long story short, the agency's current lack of human launch capability is the result of many years of political failures to plan ahead.

That one place to place blame. But there are also other, more concrete, reasons to delay development of new human launch capability. Technology. The shuttles were retired because of their age. Not because they lack capability that new launch vehicles that we could have built to have ready to replace them would have had. Even the launch vehicles in development, to be tested in 2017, are not ground breaking and will not reduce per pound launch costs. Also, even without the shuttles, there are no astronauts stranded and no unmanned spaceborne facilities.

[Deleted]

If we're going to solve all our problems before exploring space, that might as well be saying we won't be exploring space...

I agree, I doubt there will ever be peace as long as there are people! War shouldn't stand in the way of exploring space

[Elim Garak]

The only thing that can make our stupid governments to start thinking towards space - is planet-wide disaster that endangers whole humanity.

[Liagala]

something along the lines of America will only fund a space program if someone leaked info that the Chinese are going to build a military base in space (false or true), America would react the same as they did with the Russians in the Cold War and a new wave of space exploration would ensue.

I didn't watch any of the video (can't do stuff with audio at work) so maybe I'm just putting my own interpretation on things, but this comment seems to point more to a nationally competitive spirit than any war-related things. It seems to me that mention of the Cold War was just referencing a point in time, unrelated to the actual war. It's the same meaning that it would have if someone said my father was born during WWII. As an infant he had nothing to do with the war, but it's a reference to a specific point in history that everyone will understand. I see Neils' statement more as the US saying, "Meh. We'll get there sooner or lat... wait, what? Did you say someone else is going to get there first, and/or do a better job than us? Screw that noise. NASA, start hiring. Here's all the money you could ever dream of spending."

[tombstoner139]

sadly given the massive discrepancy between NASA and the defense department a militaristic path into space is most likely.
the scifi novel man kizin wars, starts with the captain of an unarmed exploration ship being attacked by an armed kizin ship. The captain turns around the communication laser, jacks up the power and fires on the attacker destroying him. Weapons in space are an inveatibilty.

[Beavis]

Putting aside the fact that we've been actively exploring space for 55 years while pointing nuclear weapons at each other down on Earth, space exploration has generally been a point of collaboration for our species, not tension. There's no reason to believe that will change any time soon.

Also, if you have this video on while not looking at the screen, it's like listening to Gene and Louise from Bob's Burgers interview some science dudes. Pretty funny.

P.S. Your poll is bad and you should feel bad.

[Forfax]

You're sadly mistaken. Pretty much every single technology you take for granted, including the internet, was created from the Cold War. It also resulted in securing America's place as the world hegemon.

It just killed millions poeple and made millions suffers for generation with horrible memories of death.
you surely are right.

[semaphore]

You're sadly mistaken. Pretty much every single technology you take for granted, including the internet, was created from the Cold War. It also resulted in securing America's place as the world hegemon.

Just because the Cold War spanned multiple decades, doesn't mean all the technologies invented during that time could be attributed to it. The internet was created because people needed to connect computers. It would have been created with or without a Cold War.