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"Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, has announced a plan to offer space travel opportunities to civilians".
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thenewgreen · 4366 days ago · link ·
Curious, why doesn't "space tourism" excite you? It would seem to me that as a potential consumer of it, you would be glad to see it become more and more affordable and attainable. Also, as the technology for space tourism evolves will it not help with the technology for space exploration? Could the free market be what drives us deeper in to space?
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It's not that I have much against space tourism, and I am glad that it will drive the technology for exploration. Actually, probably more importantly, it will drive more interest in space. But, ultimately, I am most interested in the exploration of our solar system and beyond. We know that there is so much outside our house, but we've mostly just looked outside the windows and looked a bit about the yard.
The proposition of tourism just kind of pales in the face of discoveries that await us, IMHO. But, I think Elon Musk is doing a noble and important thing.
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thenewgreen · 4366 days ago · link ·
I think that "driving the interest" is probably the most important part. These days our society is so inwardly focused and have such short attention spans, it's difficult to get them to rally around big ideas that lie "outside our house". This would change once people you actually know start telling tales of their time in space.