Funding for Space Exploration vs. Clean Energy
Some say it’s folly to be spending billions of dollars on space exploration when we can’t afford to develop technologies that would deal with the shortages of clean energy, water, and food here on Earth. In fact, I’m sympathetic with the viewpoint. But I defy anyone to watch this video on the Mars landing made by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and not see the value in this amazing program. Enjoy.
great video!!!
And, it showed the advanced state of technology way back in 2004 when the Mars Exploration Rovers were launched, it puts it in contrast to the seemingly impossible engineering feat of the Mars Science Lab and the rover Curiosity which was launched in 2011. Curiosity landed in August of 2012.
If some of this creativity went into clean energy research, we would have cleaner safer nuclearand coal, higher efficiency solar and wind.
Does the trickle down/spin-off effect from NASA get the more mundane earthly green projects off the ground or should we be cutting off the other worldly research to meet our near term energy needs and wants?
Or, do we go full bore ahead with both and let the budget be damned? That seems to be what the chicken livered folks in Washington have done with most budgetary choices. L
Interestingly there is claimed to be a Green technology that can be of Utmost Importance on Mars or Venus; as much as back here on Earth; It is about How to Move a Mass and continue moving with very small Energy and Host of other useful features like how to use a universal Resource (Time) when you have No other resources at your disposal up there in the space.
The video indicates a need for catalytic converters on rockets.
While Nasa may not have actually developed some of the things used in alternate energy today, they certainly were drivers in using these things. They have driven the use of solar PV, fuel cells and advanced batteries.
True, and they also accelerated the development of micro electronics, computers, data transmission technology, communication satellites, etc. etc. I strongly suspect that via technological fallout, we got our money’s worth from space programs. Whether further space exploration would give us our money’s worth is difficult to predict.