Thread

1. I_dream_of_Geni · 1790469671 · focus · HN ↗

   OK... Serious question here: we find "life" (algae?) on one of Saturn's moons or one of Jupiter's moons. So, we spend ~$50 Billion (arguably much more) and find "life". So? Why is this important to people? There isn't one chance in (place your own word here) that we can do anything about it or even send humans there. Seriously want to know what people really think...

   1. dzink · 1790472330 · focus · HN ↗

      Because of statistics. If we can find life, potentially started independently or pollinated in a couple of planets close to each-other, then life is everywhere and we may be in a dark forest of intelligent or hidden native predatory beings waiting to wipe us out if we squeak or show up elsewhere. If it's not as frequent, then we can keep exploring to look for it and more human-habitable spots.

      1. semi-extrinsic · 1790502694 · focus · HN ↗

         Or maybe it's so boring that the math of the universe (practically achieavable time to travel to another solar system) makes the galaxy a set of distinct systems, where 1 in X has an intelligent species which has achieved orbit, but with no transit in between.

         It's not a cool concept to write scifi books about, but it may still be the reality we live in.

         The most likely situation (by many orders of magnitude) is that the only practical way of getting to another star system, even in the far far future, is a generation ship travelling 50+ years one way with a significant risk of people dying from organ failure or cancer along the route. This would represent a 1000x speed improvement over current tech and is only a factor of 10x slower than lightspeed.

         It is entirely unfeasible for any company or even government to spend money on such a project. Even if the ground on the other planet is strewn with diamonds and gold and the elixir of eternal life, you are looking at ~200 years before any ROI can be realised.

         1. [deleted] · 1790504162 · focus · HN ↗

            [deleted]

         2. Brian_K_White · 1790515119 · focus · HN ↗

            It only takes 5 years to communicate with the nearest star, and communication alone is worth doing.
         3. slfnflctd · 1790518227 · focus · HN ↗

            > the only practical way of getting to another star system, even in the far far future, is a generation ship travelling 50+ years one way with a significant risk of people dying from organ failure or cancer along the route

            1) The first mission would almost certainly be a set of robotic probes (especially in light of recent developments)

            2) As controversial as it may be, we could genetically engineer descendants who are better suited for space travel

            3) Cybernetics hold the potential to preserve the biological human 'essence' (brain and nervous system) while minimizing the amount of living material requiring maintenance

            4) Hibernation is still a possibility, or at least we haven't ruled it out yet

            When you're looking at long enough time spans - which we should have available if we manage to avoid extincting ourselves - many more possibilities emerge beyond simply "put a bunch of regular humans as we currently are into a tin can".

            1. semi-extrinsic · 1790579738 · focus · HN ↗

               None of these points solve the underlying economic problem. You would not get any ROI for hundreds of years, at which point the people who made the huge investment are no longer alive, and the companies/nations may not even exist anymore.

               1. slfnflctd · 1790593895 · focus · HN ↗

                  There is no clear ROI for a whole bunch of the research we do. Yes, the system will likely always be a bit biased toward research that does eventually lead to some sort of profitable enterprise, but any self respecting scientist turns a blind eye to that in favor of purely learning new things.

                  1. semi-extrinsic · 1790612702 · focus · HN ↗

                     I have no argument against the case that scientists may one day send a probe to travel to other solar systems. Probably it will be unmanned.

                     This does not extrapolate to a dark forest scenario.

               2. AngryData · 1790632987 · focus · HN ↗

                  I don't think we need a profit motive. Egyption pyramids would never pay off, and im willing to bet a lot of their construction was just for the cool factor and "look at what we can do collectively because we have so much excess of time and goods!"

                  History is full of monuments and art who's only purpose was to be cool. And sending humans to another solar system would be a pretty cool monument to humanity.

                  It is more of a PR problem really to convince people to contribute.

         4. api · 1790518680 · focus · HN ↗

            I’m willing to bet that figuring out how to survive cryostasis is easier than building any kind of starship. We can already do it with some organs and many tissues.

            Do that first. It has huge medical benefits too, so it’s dual use not just for space flight.

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