It’s all spectacle, and where will it all lead? We landed men on the moon, and haven’t been back. What is SpaceX going to use for going to Mars? Are you gonna be the one that’s going or are they gonna leave you behind to rot here on this burning planet?
> you talk about new eras, but nothing changes.
And yes, it does affect my life. I have dreamed my whole life of this stuff happening. After growing up in a "third world" country, I navigated the byzantine US immigration system, went through a decade+ of training, to finally be here and working at a new-space company right at the beginning of this new space age. The industry that I am working at right now would be in a completely different place (and a lot smaller) without SpaceX. It also wouldn't exist without the advances made for Apollo and the Space Shuttle program.
> What is SpaceX going to use for going to Mars?
Starship probably.
> Are you gonna be the one that’s going
Maybe. There is a non-zero chance now that the system that will achieve it is that much closer to being operational. You are missing the step change in cost that this will enable.
> or are they gonna leave you behind to rot here on this burning planet
It does not have to be one or the other. The "burning planet" will be solved just like we solved every other challenge facing our species.
You are obviously going through some stuff and seem to be in place where you cannot appreciate the good things that are happening in this world. But that does not change the fact that they are.
I appreciate a lot of good things when they happen. I’m saying this this is not a good thing. Do you think it’s a good thing because it made your life better. But you’re only seeing it from your perspective. You don’t have a holistic view of the world.
You asked me how it impacts me and I answered.
> But you’re only seeing it from your perspective. You don’t have a holistic view of the world.
You are failing to see the holistic view yourself because you seem to be having a bad time. Lowering the cost of mass-to-orbit by a couple of orders of magnitude significantly changes what can be done in space. This includes truly massive satellites (e.g. https://www.k2space.com/) that can provide services for Earth that were not possible before. In-space manufacturing of materials that cannot be made easily on Earth. Moving polluting industries off the surface, mining of resources from space (for use in space or on the surface if it is valuable enough) and much more. It is a feed-back loop that will compound into massive changes.
All of that and more will impact the whole of humanity in a very positive way.
Don’t you understand? You’re all surprised about my negative comments but I’m sure you would be feeling the same if you were in my position right now.
There are things that do not benefit you right at this moment. That does not mean that they are not a boon to society at large and a net-positive for this world.
A significant fraction of the billions of people on this planet have had their life changed positively due to advancements in space technology - in all probability including you. And it will continue to do so. I am sorry that you are not in a place where you can appreciate that and be happy about it. I hope it changes for you.
Frankly, I don't see human society surviving long enough - or perhaps better put, maintaining a necessary level of societal development - for us to develop the tech to establish a self-sufficient colony capable of independent growth and to get us to a planet with the resources to make such a thing possible.
It's hard to make rocket parts when everyone is living in shacks made of sticks and mud and leaves.
You also appear to have an internet connection and a means to use it. Again, technological leaps were required for you to be able to whine on HN.
Perhaps - if you're so utterly sincere and serious about saving the planet as you appear to be - you should be living in the nearest available cave? After all, that minivan is likely to use an internal combustion engine and runs on dead dinosaurs; let alone the plastics and metals and silicon used in said minivan's assembly.
See, this is what I don't get about eco-heros like you appear to be - even if you are homeless, you're still, right now, utilising every single technological leap that it took to get you to the stage of even just living in your minivan and complaining about rocket development on the internet. This, to me, reeks of hypocrisy.
So the most likely outcome of a metaphorical or literal asteroid hit on Earth is that it would still leave thousands, millions, or billions of survivors on Earth, while leaving it unable and/or unwilling to sustain maintenance missions to Mars, so the Mars colonists would starve or otherwise die slowly, despite being technically unaffected by the original disaster.
But there's still more than a month to go until 2024. I'm sure everything will come together in time. </s>