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<blockquote data-quote="MGibster" data-source="post: 9639427" data-attributes="member: 4534">I remember in one of my undergraduate philosophy courses my instructor putting forth the idea that space exploration was a moral imperative because one day the sun will burn out, and without someplace else to hang our hat we'll go extinct.&nbsp; Of course the sun will render the Earth uninhabitable long before it burns out, but we're still talking about a billion years or so, and I argued we simply can't make plans today for an event hundreds of millions of years in the future.&nbsp; Argue space exploration is a moral imperative because of the knowledge it brings, but don't tell me it's necessary to avoid extinction.&nbsp; Space is big.&nbsp; I don't know if anyone has mentioned that.&nbsp; The distances between stars is vast in a way that is difficult to comprehend.&nbsp; I won't rule out the possibility of technology advancements, but for the foreseeable future, space exploration is going to be unmanned.&nbsp; Sending people to Mars is a stunt.&nbsp; Just send robots.&nbsp; If we ever encounter an alien civilization, at best it'll be a transmission of some kind or an unmanned probe.&nbsp; Though I still dream of Mathilda May walking down the streets of London....</blockquote>

[QUOTE="MGibster, post: 9639427, member: 4534"] I remember in one of my undergraduate philosophy courses my instructor putting forth the idea that space exploration was a moral imperative because one day the sun will burn out, and without someplace else to hang our hat we'll go extinct. Of course the sun will render the Earth uninhabitable long before it burns out, but we're still talking about a billion years or so, and I argued we simply can't make plans today for an event hundreds of millions of years in the future. Argue space exploration is a moral imperative because of the knowledge it brings, but don't tell me it's necessary to avoid extinction. Space is big. I don't know if anyone has mentioned that. The distances between stars is vast in a way that is difficult to comprehend. I won't rule out the possibility of technology advancements, but for the foreseeable future, space exploration is going to be unmanned. Sending people to Mars is a stunt. Just send robots. If we ever encounter an alien civilization, at best it'll be a transmission of some kind or an unmanned probe. Though I still dream of Mathilda May walking down the streets of London.... [/QUOTE]

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