Captain Kirk Blue Origin Space Flight (Live at 15:50 UK Time)
I kind of agree. But I think there is also an intriguing desire to explore. As a species, we've always done it. High mountains, arctic and antarctic wilderness, deep seas, the moon. Space stations. I actually don't think you can stop us. Shatner was just pure hype. Useful publicity to gain more funding.ShaunWhite wrote: ↑Wed Oct 13, 2021 7:54 pmAnd ironically his space jolly dumped even more crap in the atmosphere of a planet he now cares about. You've got to be some sort of idiot to need a trip to space to comprehend our fragility and what a thin layer of atmosphere we all shelter under.greenmark wrote: ↑Wed Oct 13, 2021 6:52 pm.
What amazed me was Shatners discussion with Bezos. He was clearly overwhelmed by the experience.
I'm paraphrasing here, but what I heard was:
The planet is blue and equals life, space is black and equals death.
And the transition from one to the other happens way faster than you can imagine.
Maybe punting creatives into this echelon is a great way of getting them to come back down and persuade the rest of us that we live on a pretty special place and it's worth taking some inconvenience to protect the future generations.
Could have gone badly wrong. But didn't.
The space programmes going on are many. And for many reasons other than celeb joy rides.
yup - while the quest for new frontiers is what spread us across the globe, it does seem a bit off to be encouraging initiatives that are aimed at abandoning the planet, rather than helping rewind some of the past harms. vanity projects such as this are a double blow to sustainability, firstly, they divert money away from projects that could be better aimed at putting *our* house back in order. secondly, whilst not helping put our house back in order, this project actually churns more crap into the atmosphere with zero benefit to you or I.ShaunWhite wrote: ↑Wed Oct 13, 2021 7:54 pmAnd ironically his space jolly dumped even more crap in the atmosphere of a planet he now cares about. You've got to be some sort of idiot to need a trip to space to comprehend our fragility and what a thin layer of atmosphere we all shelter under.
much as i love progress, this is a garish mix of ego, vanity and PR... could try harder!!
[edit] and while thinking about it, despite this being a privately funded exercise, there is little legislation around such pursuits. therefore, this shared space is being shared a little more by those that can.
- ShaunWhite
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No harm in that, so long as you leave the cave habitable for all those who can't go on the journey.
I'm not a Ludite, progress is often good. My gripe is about priorities. Climate and resource collapse isn't 500yrs away its due within the lifetime of our grandchildren.