I am Cube Commander 1 of Borg... good, now that that confounded SETI has be shelved, we can sneak in unexpectedly and assimilate with a few of you nicer humans.

Interesting take.  it would be great if they have, but if so, why stop?

For the "Space is a waste, save the earth first" crowd (no disrespect intended there)...

Let's say we achieve the goals of actually buying the planet a coca cola and bringing in perfect peace and harmony with nature.  We clean up the environment, live healthy--and an extinction event level asteroid smacks into the planet.

Everything you sweated for is gone.  The earth is covered in clouds that rain acid and sulfur, plants and forests, animals and sea life die and humans don't survive.

It isn't "one or the other", it's both.  We need space development for the same reasons we need ecological progress.  It's a miracle life ever got here and more of one it has made it this far.  It won't last forever if we just sit here smiling.

We could take all of our planet's life to otherwise barren planets when we go or we can all stay here and wait for a random event to stop it all.

One day we will have to leave earth and it's no less urgent to begin planning and preparing  for that than it is planning for  long-term global ecology.

 blank

A big part of science is knowing how to allocate your time and resources wisely.

Obama does not solely run the government It was a senator from Florida who drafted the new bill, I believe. In any case, Obama did not scrap plans to go to the moon. He scrapped the Constellation Program, because it was way behind schedule, underfunded, and way over budget. He also increased NASA's funding by $6 billion. His plan would have NASA rely on private companies for shorter journeys, like to the ISS and Earth orbit, while NASA would focus on more distant goals like the moon, Mars, and asteroids.

Also, since there seems to be some confusion, SETI as a whole is not being put into "hibernation." One telescope array is. SETI still exists, SETI@Home is still going, and they have other telescopes to use. The Allen array was just one of their primary ones. http://archive.seti.org/pdfs/ATA-hibernation.pdf

That's just silly. If an asteroid hits us it's natural selection and it sucks to be us then. The fear of an asteroid hitting us is no excuse for not taking care of the planet nor would our efforts had been a waste of time. We live here...and we...one would assume...would want to make sure we don't die from neglect of our planet due to our own stupidity. We've already been given a planet to live on...free and clear...we don't need to spend billions to fly to some barren planet when we have a perfectly good one right under our feet.

Actually it's just the one...the one under your feet. Space is neither a necessity or practical goal...at least not for most of us average humans without the money for the ticket...as much as it is a curiosity...and the rich aren't going to build it themselves...they'll let you do that and wave goodbye as they leave.

And what's to stop an asteroid from hitting the barren one you just chose to land on? Oops! And just think...your last vision will be of the one you just left...man...wouldn't that suck! The grass isn't always greener on the other planet.

And that's some lofty goal of taking all of our planets life to some other planet...seriously...what are you smoking...I'd love to have some! But really...we have more than enough problems taking care of a planet that's already habitable and you think the same people are going to go to some remote barren planet with no water, no air, basically nothing other than dirt and dust and create a livable planet from scratch?

So again...we have no business even thinking about going into space much less planing anything...it ain't gonna happen. We really need to get our act together and grow up and take responsibility of the planet we live on. Or you can just dream on.

Actually WebGizmos, read some of the stories about people who settled the wilderness in pre-industrial times or paleontologists accounts of what it was like for humans in the Ice Age.  You wouldn't think it was possible they made it.  Now those wildernesses are "nations" building computers and figuring out the mysteries of the universe.

Of course you can get clobbered anywhere you go--the idea is to try to position yourself so as to have less a chance of getting clobbered (just like locking your car door so it doesn't get stolen or vandalized).  I'm going to die one day--but funny, I still eat and drink and try  to stay healthy and enjoy my life.  I'm not planning on dying today.  Neither do I think we as a species should just "accept fate" and plan to not try to survive.

And don't take the animals thing so stupidly literal.  We can bring viable embryos of any animals that live on our planet now with us anywhere we chose to go--even all of them if we really were determined.  All it takes is an effort to preserve them--which actually we ought to be doing right now even if we stay earthbound.

My point is, we can't just "retire" on earth.  It has a limited lifespan and limited resources--jut like oil.

So practical and modest efforts that keep us focused on ways to expand are not liabilities. One day someone will have to move.

In the long run whether homo sapiens colonizes the entire universe is totally irrelevant. The universe itself will cease to be, so why bother?

But even when you think there is any point,  who cares if ET exists or not. If they do and we swarm out we're bound to encounter them. If not, well ... then not.

The money wasted on SETI would be better spent on more productive ventures. 

kyogre12

It's not a reason to not go into space...that can happen anywhere in space...and it already has. But again...if we can't get our shit together and take care of a planet we already have we have no business going somewhere else and doing the same thing. We have a livable planet...it's been here long before anyone lived here and will be here...hopefully long after we're gone.

All those things are well and fine...but hardly a reason to go into space. And even the things you mentioned have yet to be perfected.

Don't get ahead of yourself...we...is a few humans landing on the moon...which is a great achievement but still not practical. To get more than a few people into space would need to be something monumental in so many ways...let alone landing safely and then attempting to colonize and terraform a barren planet. I think it's safe to say it would take far more than our national debt at the moment. So no...not practical. Maybe in movies it looks easy...but not in reality.

Can't argue witrh the obvious!

Ok then...so I guess none of are going anywhere. The ones that as you say know what they are doing can't deal with the problems we already face and they have a whole planet of people to help...your not suggesting they do all that on their own?

Ok...you lost me there...responsible...a good track record? If that were the case they wouldn't be thinking about leaving the planet for somewhere else. Yeah we've...meaning those few astronauts and maybe a chimp here and there...been going to space for decades...and it will take decades to come up with anything remotely feasible just to get a planet full of people moved out into space. The logistics are just to monumental for it to even be considered.

Sinperium

People were much tougher back in the Ice Age and pre-industrial times...and if you took someone from present day and sent them back to that time they'd die off in a heartbeat And they didn't have to terraform the planet...and resources were all around them.

Well...you can "try" all you want...it's still a crap shoot of getting clobbered...so I'll take my chances here. We've been hit many times by space rocks and some pretty big ones if history is correct. And it's not a matter of just accepting fate...it's accepting life. Our life is here on this planet as it has been for millions of years.

Dude...you watch to many space movies. It would take a hell of a lot more than some effort or determination to make that happen. First you need to get all the people up there out there where ever your planning on going. It would more than likely take years before anything got established and viable for people to live there...where ever there is...and then you have no idea what the effects of a weightless planet would be on trying to clone anything...and since it's yet to be done you'd be shit out of luck if it was determined unfeasible. There just to many things to consider to make any of it feasible.

Seriously...retire on earth? The earth does not have a limited lifespan...at least not one that should concern you...and as far as resources...if we were more responsible we could easily have limitless resources...in fact I'd venture to say that we have more resources than all other planets combined...we just need to stop being so greedy and irresponsible.

Just like oil? People got along just fine before oil...we could do it again if we had to...we would just have to change our lifestyles and adapt. Which would be far more practical then going into space. The end of oil is not the end of life.

As far as "expanding"...we never finish anything we start. Yeah we're great at producing things close to great but then we just drop the ball and move on to the next thing without perfecting what we already started...or in our desire to make something better we just screw it up.

We have become to selfish and greedy to come together as a race to accomplish anything as huge as moving people off the planet. That's why I say...until we can prove we can come together and bring this already habitable planet back from the brink we aren't going anywhere.

But hey...don't let me burst your dream...nothing wrong with dreaming...one day...we will boldly go where no man has gone before! And then...the Simpsons will come on.

The problem with humans is that we spend so much time looking at the stars we ignore what's right under our feet. Same thing with religion and origin...we spend so much time trying to figure out where life came from that we forget to live and kill anyone that disagrees with us at the drop of oil.

Now...if...and I mean if...we could all come together without the factor of money and greed...and we pooled all of our talents and skills from everyone in an endeavor to create enough ships to get people off this planet...it still probably wouldn't work. Someone would manage to screw it up.

With all due respect WG take a look at dwarf planet Vesta. It lives in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Enough raw material to build a city that would circle the globe twice. The Moon can be mined for two basic ingredients. Hydrogen and Oxygen. Fuel for the masses. In the asteroid belt alone there are enough resources to build another Earth right next door several times over. Earth is just a speck of dust in comparison. Our resources, no matter how much you conserve, are finite not infinite. Space exploration in its earliest stages is all about procuring badly needed resources to offset what we have left. Without access to the (almost limitless) resources within our solar system and a way to relieve the stress on Earth due to overpopulation this planet, our civilization dies. Like it or not moving out into space is inevitable. To survive as a race we must. If we meet ET out there then so what. Space is big enough for everybody.