NASA collected a sample from an asteroid for the first time — here’s why it matters
NASA collected a sample from an asteroid for the first time — here’s why it matters
The material can help scientists understand the origins of the Earth.
NASA collected a sample from an asteroid for the first time — here’s why it matters::NASA retrieved a sample from an asteroid for the first time, providing scientists with material to understand the early origins of the solar system.
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I love space exploration and the furthering of our knowledge and understanding about the universe, but in this case I was curious how they'd justify this mission "mattering" in their article, given the current crumbling state of our civilisation, and the very specific, pointed choice of wording in the title.
I suppose it's down to perspective. I adore space and love our probes and what we learn (Voy 2 is my fave! ❤️), but in the big picture I wouldn't say this stuff matters, so much as it enriches our culture and understanding of our place in the universe.
Given that we are living in a time period where there is a deep, decades long decline in society into the now undeniable Cost of Living Crisis (not to mention the austerity crisis, brexit crisis, global warming crisis, mass extinction crisis, employment crisis, stagnant wage crisis, food crisis, full scale fascist invasion on the continent, etc), I don't think this mission "matters" very much, when held up against any of those things. It's about priorities and perspective, I suppose.
I still love it, I love what humans do, their thirst for knowledge, their exploration of the stars. But I wouldn't say it matters in current context, given how we are all suffering (well, except the upper middle and ruling classes, I suppose, they're doing fine), and how that suffering is set to only get worse in the coming decades.
This mission is super cool and awesome, but in the real lives of myself, my family, friends, colleagues, people around me, I don't think it particularly matters. It's not going to have any impact on us, basically.
I hope that doesn't sound overly pessimistic 😅 I loooove space ✨ The title just bugged me, and the article didn't justify it, haha.
Space exploration costs us a fraction of a fraction of our resources. All of our problems are mainly political ones.
More knowledge is always good. We do not know when or where or how it will come into use in the future. In addition to, yes, enticing our lives and culture. Possibly inspiring people to build a better future and to care.
For how much it costs, it's a far better use of our resources than a lot of other things we spend them on.
Considering that the particular asteroid being sampled here has a chance of cracking Earth's noggin in the next century or so it might just be worthwhile to know a bit more about it.