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Comment by curiousgal | Hacker News Reader

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Sometimes we need to disconnect from the internet and realize we can't solve all the world's problems. The best thing you can do is solve things in the communities you are in.

The entire world's problems is too much for one human.

There’s not a lot of sweet left in the world of bitter. But there are far more people that want peace than war, and the powerful are not as protected and immune from concequences as they think.

Well. You are getting down voted but here I am in later stages in life watching this Moon launch, and unlike other times in past, I didn’t feel any inspiration.

Honestly, it’s a waste of money. That’s my final answer, there’s kids that need food. I am no longer inspired by this stuff.

I’ve seen enough advanced technology for many lifetimes, we need something else as a species (more of that humanity thing).

I understand your side to some extent. It helped watching my 11yo watch the launch - for him it's more meaningful, more imminent than it can be for a jaded person like myself.

I don't think it's mutually exclusive with food aid, though. If anything, it's taking money that probably would have gone into bombs and aeroplanes instead if we didn't have a space program. Honestly, it feels like we could redirect the entire military-industrial complex into space travel... retain the same pork spending but use it for rockets that aren't designed to land on our neighbours. Nice compromise.

Yeah totally. Ideally, I’d like it if we feed the kids that need the food, educate them, and have them build the rocket and have them take the glory of that achievement (the glory being we as a society uplifted ourselves, literally … to the moon).

Right now it feels like the privileged are being sent to the moon. Many babies and young adults are on battlefields right now.

But thank you for reminding me how important it is for the child to see something magical.

The truth is definitely quite deep.

You're asking the US to act with a bit of socialism. Trump's made it pretty clear he thinks social anything is a gateway drug to communism. He even got Fox calling Canada "next to communism" because Repuglicans hate the concept so very much.

Yea, he's an idiot. But he's the boss for now.

A waste of money to explore the cosmos? It’s our duty is it not? What exactly are you doing about kids starving?

Is this an exploration or a joyride?

Don't get me wrong. I'm excited about it but are we looking to get anything of use out of it beyond, "Neat"?

More like a shakedown, not a joyride. Artemis 2&3 are similar to Apollo 8-10. Practice, cautious testing. Yeah we've been there done that, but it's been 50 years and we've got a new ship we've got to run through its paces.

Space is still hard.

Aside from just "neat" we always have more to learn. The last Apollo mission was the only one to carry an actual scientist, prof. Harrison Schmitt. Artemis stands to do a lot more actual science overall. We still don't know how the moon actually got there.

As to what if anything useful we actually get from this, the same stuff we did the first time really. Though arguably much less economic gain.

> Honestly, it’s a waste of money. That’s my final answer, there’s kids that need food

NASA has a tiny budget - 0.35% of the US Federal budget. Kids aren't going hungry because of Artemis II. There are much better candidates to be upset about in that regard.

I find it crazy how whenever space stuff or even fundamental science stuff in general gets talked about, the its a waste of money crowd comes out. Everyone is totally fine with the AI bullshit of the day or the people spending millions on a start ups whose pitch is so stupid it sounds like something that would have been rejected from silicon valley the tv show, but suddenly if its for science its a bridge to far.

You want to save the world? by all means have at it. But let the science peeps do science things. Its not like the world would be any more saved if they weren't doing these things.

The same crowd comes out because in every human generation, a young boy will have seen the advances of human technology and ambition, and will have also seen the sheer scale of our curious contraptions by the time they are an old man. That’s why you get the same “revelation” generation after generation.

Some people truly grow up.

We're literally only doing it to beat the Chinese back. As a Gundam fan, I can't help but feel (likely misplaced and misguided) enthusiasm for the development of space, but objectively, this is a stunt, through-and-through. Trump-y on the Moon.

> there’s kids that need food…I’ve seen enough advanced technology for many lifetimes

I’m sure folks said the same before the Green Revolution. “Plants have always grown one way!”

A rat done bit my sister Nell. With Whitey (and Blackey) on the Moon...

Yeah. I've been excited about Artemis since the very start and have been following everything very closely. And of course I was excited about this launch.

But I'm gonna be honest, I'm not feeling any positive feelings here in the moment. It's an insane achievement, but it kind of means nothing for humanity. A nation's representatives literally popping champagne because they passed a law that will allow them to hang their hostages, just a day ago.

The engineering advancements that have been made during Artemis will be used to kill children tomorrow and the day after that. I have spent a large amount of my life in pursuit of knowledge about space exploration. I would give up any chance of ever knowing anything about space for the safety of those children. None of this hubristic rocket crap really matters in the end.

And I know, NASA and the military have always been intertwined, same coin, etc etc. But it stings harder specifically today. All tenets of the so-called "civilized western world" thrown out for greed and evil. We don't deserve space exploration right now.

@dang i know this is not super HN-friendly stuff here, delete if you must

JYNX, go read my comment!

Yours was first indeed! Took me a couple minutes to put my thoughts into some awkwardly phrased words

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