Timeline for What are the benefits of space research and explorations to common people?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
10 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 21, 2022 at 21:58 | comment | added | David S | @Schmuddi Think of the automotive industry vs the horse and buggy industry. What tech came about research into automotive that would not have otherwise advanced? Plenty. More than just researching the tech, its development. Too many people forget that development brought many of these products to market. Not just by inventing them, but purchasing them from manufacturers that create processes to adapt them to mass market. There are many life-changing inventions that never made it beyond prototype. The space programs bring a subset of prototypes to market. | |
| Feb 21, 2022 at 4:51 | comment | added | Dan | LEDs were not invented by govt. Freeze dried food ditto. As to the rest, the claim is these things would not have existed without govt running them. A claim not in evidence, and having massive evidence the other way. | |
| Feb 20, 2022 at 9:29 | comment | added | Schmuddi | @Ben: I don't want to invalidate space-related research – but I'm not buying that particular argument. Of course do other spheres of R&D produce side products that may end up in every-day life, and and of course is the proportion of these inventions in relation to the overall number of inventions not a good yardstick to justify these spheres. And yet – it's an argument frequently brought up especially to justify space-related programs. But on what basis? Have these programs yielded an especially large number of marketable inventions? I doubt that they have, hence this comparison. | |
| Feb 20, 2022 at 1:03 | comment | added | Ben | @Schmuddi "regardless of how many space-related inventions you'll list, the number will be dwarfed by the number of inventions that don't have any relation to space exploration." Why do the benefits of one sphere of R&D have to approach the sum total of all other development in society in order to count as significant? Your general point makes sense, but that's an absurd comparison to make; by that logic we can dismiss each and every research program individually because the number of inventions that come out of it are dwarfed by the number of inventions that don't have any relation to it. | |
| Feb 19, 2022 at 13:40 | comment | added | Schmuddi | @Caleth: I don't grudge the space agencies their budget – after all, I also work in an academic field that is exclusively funded from public sources. My point is not that the number of "space inventions" is too small to justify the budget, my point is that I question the (unfalsifiable) claim that without space programs, a noticeable number of inventions that improve every-day life would have never been made, and that our lives would be the worse because of it. | |
| Feb 18, 2022 at 12:25 | comment | added | Caleth | @Schmuddi don't look at the raw number of "space inventions" vs "non-space inventions", but compare the amount weighted to how much money is being spent. Yes, the budgets of space agencies sound big, because all national agency budgets sound big. | |
| Feb 18, 2022 at 10:05 | comment | added | Schmuddi | I was never convinced by the "space exploration is good because look at the discoveries that have trickled down to everyday living" argument. For one, regardless of how many space-related inventions you'll list, the number will be dwarfed by the number of inventions that don't have any relation to space exploration. Also, even if the development of e.g. wireless headsets has been sped up by space exploration, it's not a given that we wouldn't have them by now even without that accelerator. There's a clear need for wireless audio equipment, and this need would have fueled innovation anyways. | |
| Feb 18, 2022 at 9:33 | comment | added | Philipp♦ | And don't forget the countless satellites in Earth orbit which provide all kinds of direct and indirect benefits to citizens. Like accurate weather predictions, TV or GPS. Yes, many of them are privately owned, but they would not exist if government-sponsored space exploration in the 50s and 60s hadn't showed that they are possible. | |
| Feb 18, 2022 at 4:13 | vote | accept | user366312 | ||
| Feb 18, 2022 at 4:14 | |||||
| Feb 18, 2022 at 4:10 | history | answered | Ash Rivers | CC BY-SA 4.0 |