There are lessons to be learned from space exploration, but we are slow learners.

Since Mariner IV, we have known the Earth is the only known habitable planet, but there is still foolish talk of expanding the human tragedy to Mars.

From space we watch the polar caps shrink, the ocean and atomospheric temperatures rise, and greenhouse gases build, yet we do little to curtail the obvious human contributions to this iffy, untested global experiment.

Finally, and most curiously, through our exploration with Hubble, WMAP, and Newton telescopes, and in conjunction with earth-based radio data, we know the universe is much too large and too old for the BB model: None of the predictions have panned out. We know Cassini is measuring thermal properties of the moons of Saturn that are inconsistent with the current solar system model, and we found dust, not ice, in the deep impact encounter. We have learned the Sun has electro-magnetic properties never fathomed in theory, and even lightning can produce gamma rays. Our science is only as good as our ability to recognize these inconsistencies for what they are: Clues that we don't have a clue.

There is much to learn, so much challenging every aspect of our future, including the most basic premises of current physical theory. Exploring space provides answers.

Question.

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jwj

It's ok not to know.

Indeed, The Messenger, and well summarised.

"I have learned from my mistakes... and I'm sure that I can repeat them, exactly"
<_<

Human history has taught us that: intelligence does not equate with wisdom; that authority does not equate with responsibility; that holding a truth does not equate with seeking the truth ... and that the more massive the body in motion, the greater it's inertia, and therefore the greater the force required to change it...

Real, lasting change - whether it be in our perceptions of the sciences, or in social policy - is generational... Einstein's impact on cosmology is an exception, not a rule ... but even he could not prevent the inertia which led to nuclear proliferation and MAD.

Voices raised in defence of the environment, and warning of the damage being done, have been here for as long as I have lived ... and I've witnessed it's growth over the decades to become a social force affecting governments (green parties, and then green policies adopted by major parties) and corporations (through legislative and legal changes) ...

it is the 'classic' Time/Energy equation that I've mentioned elsewhere (oh, it might be on piersdad's forum) ... there is an inversely proportional relationship between the time required/available and the energy (in broad terms >think< resources as well as forces) required/available to achieve any given goal - it's not exactly linear, the ends of the graph disappear into infinity/infinitesimality, and it can never be zero or less...

all that last bit of waffle is trying to say is that changing the course of future history, or applying new foundations to replace long-held views, will always take longer and require more than a minority can give ... so it must wait for a new generation, where hopefully the wiser view is held by the majority ...

hope that makes sense... :blink:

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