[asking]

I think we all, somewhere deep down, believe that humans are different. It's hard to come to terms with the fact that we're really not. (Hence religion, etc.)

I couldn't agree more. It is hard to come to terms with that idea. And most people never will because they reject the idea.

But I guess that I think we should be honest with ourselves about that. There probably will be a last person on Earth someday, though it's a scary thought. If you have read the story of Ishi, the California Indian who was the last of his tribe, you can get a sense of what it would be like. And I remember reading about a Hawaiian bird that was the last of its species--a male singing its mating call. But no females ever appeared because there weren't any...

[DuBas07]

I understand and agree with the overall general point that humans are no different.. I constantly point out to my close friends we are monkeys. But we are monkeys with intelligence that no other recorded animal can rival. Call me an optimist but I believe if all of humanity puts there efforts into something I think very few goals would be unachievable. I do recognize there is a good chance humanity will kill each other off, Im not an idiot(at least I hope Im not :-) ).

[DuBas07]

I didn't know about Christa McAuliffe, I was three at the time so I don't remember any of the media coverage.

[Unknown008]

Sorry, you're right Capuchin, I made a big big mistake, lol. Thanks for reminding me.

I do recognize there is a good chance humanity will kill each other off

Yes, good point there.

[Capuchin]

I didnt know about Christa McAuliffe, I was three at the time so I dont remember any of the media coverage.

It happened the day after I was born.. :)

[asking]

It happened the day after I was born.. :)

Sigh. I'm the oldster here by a long way. I was working on a shuttle biology project at a university and in my 20s. Because of the disaster, they put our project on hold for 7 years. It was supposed to have gone up on the next shuttle...

[DuBas07]

Sorry about your project being delayed, did you still get to work on it?

[JimGunther]

By the way, civilians died in the recent Space Shuttle disasters.

[0rphan]

Life is precious no matter who they are... you could say Astronaults choose to do their job, just as the military do in the wars, but it does not make their life any less valuable.

Looking back at that first moon landing.. about 40 years -ish... it doesn't seem to me that we have achieved anything else, having said that, no one knows what goes on behind closed doors, least of all ordinary people like myself.

I have to say that any knowledge regarding an alternative place to live, has to be good, therefore those brave people, did not give their lives in vain, but for their believe in preserving mankind.

May God Bless Them All.

[JimGunther]

As you can tell by my avatar, I worked on the Apollo XI mission and can tell you that we have learned a lot about how to live in space but obviously have a lot still to learn. NASA suffered budget cuts after Apollo XVII and decided to go in the direction of near-earth missions and construction of the Space Station, and of course, unmanned probes of various types. The knowledge obtained to that point will be used in future space applications.

I don't feel people who have lost their lives in space have done so in vain either. It is an incredibly dangerous place to survive in and yet we must learn to do it if we as a civilization are to survive.

[asking]

sorry about your project being delayed, did you still get to work on it?

No. They used my protocol, but I was in a new career by then. Thanks for asking.

I think space flight is worthwhile. I wouldn't force anyone to go though and I feel bad about animals that have been sent out there to die. I kind of prefer unmanned flights that collect lots of data. We get more information for the cost and no one needs to die. But the flights with men and women capture people's imagination and serve a purpose too, but a different one.

[fored]

Each time we have explored new boundaries i.e.: Drugs, Surgical procedures, territories, military tactics, traffic patterns, aircraft, spacecraft, psychoanalytic , domestic animals, political partnerships, military partnerships, birthing theories, "Enlightened Political" theories, bacterial or viral theories or infectious disease , transportation (Cars, Trains, Horses, Walking. etc.). Antibacterial soaps. Electricity, Drinking water, Chorline, Chorline in water, Insulin, Colon Cleansing, Religious cult therories ( I lost 30 classmates in JONESTOWN). The Great Leap Foreword, Five year plans Communist stuff. Etc. Ad Nauseun. ( The teacher died in space in front of millons of students around the world ) .
I'm reassured that was a fake just like the moon Landing. No Laughter.

[fored]

Sorry talaniman, I had a stroke 3months ago and part of my therapy is this and I screwed p and I lost my continuam. I am so sorry and I am fatigued...

I'm sorry for being sarcastic or if I hurt you. I was quite vigerous earlier but I'm not so sure now.

[jrwild62]

Many civilians have died in space accidents. Is the knowledge gained from space exploration worth the cost of human lives?

As I just stated in another thread, the human curiosity about origin is powerful and will never cease as long as humans are thinking. Lives and Trillions of dollars go towards this effort. I think if humanity was on the brink of extinction. The last gasp would be to send another probe into deep space and find an answer.

[eriknugent]

I would say it is up ro the person putting there life on the line.

[survivorboi]

In my opinion, war have killed more people then exploring space ever will. We gain so much knowledge, and to be knowledge pays off in the long run. Don't you think so?

I mean, lets say, hundreds of years ago, people didn't know about comets, stars, planets, etc.
Then, what if an asteroid collide into Earth killing millions of people

Now, with knowledge, possibly from space exploration, we know about comets, asteroids, etc. Now we will know what to do or even how to prevent it from happening. Right?

So, maybe using a few life to gain the knowledge to safe millions or even billions of life isn't so bad at all!

Stephen Hawking said that as a species, we will not survive on a single planet. There are too many accidents that betray life on a single planet. We must spread out into space to hope surviving.

[sarnian]

Many civilians have died in space accidents. Is the knowledge gained from space exploration worth the cost of human lives?

This is more a question about ethics than about astronomy.
In general I would say that if humanity would - as a group - gain from space exploration, than it is worth the loss of some individuals.
So far we have gained enormously from space exploration.
From Internet to computers, from energy to food technology, from sattellite to GSM to Route planning technology : imagine how life would be if we would live now with the technology levels of the 1950's...

Many early pilots died, and still today many pilots die in airplane accidents. Was it worth to die for aviation? Imagine life in this world without airplanes.
Many (car) drivers die yearly on the roads. Imagine life in this world without cars.
Etc.

[FlyYakker]

We have people who risk their necks in extreme sports, mountain climbing, car racing etc. which is fine with me, but these activities really have no intrinsic value other than fun (and a sense of personal achievement to the individuals) and nobody seems to question those risks. In comparison, the search for knowledge usually is of benefit to the society as a whole, yet taking risks for knowledge is questioned.

[sarnian]

Good point , FlyYakker. But how boring life would be without these risks!