this post was submitted on 15 Nov 2024
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Why do people always get so upset about spaceflight? There are plenty of other things the oligarchs can be legitimately criticised for yet people always obsess about this.
Because it's become obvious to many people that these problems of climate and class-based wealth accumulation, cannot techohopiumed out of. Space exploration did lead do useful technology and scientific advancement, but in our current era our relationship to space is no longer star trek, it's snowpiercer in space. The average person no longer has a positive view because they are crushed under a capitalist class that seeks to leave them behind, hence the comic.
Not to mention that any and all new research isn't coming out of these companies, and is locked behind a paywall. They are actively stifling innovation by hoarding the data that used to give us neat things like Velcro.
Spaceflight is really important to humanity. Mining resources and proving concepts should be done. Having it carried out by corporations isnt ideal but thay doesnt mean it is better to stop. Let them burn their cash on r&d. Space is really high risk with inconsistent profitability.
If you think corporations are going to outlay the capital to develop a realistic extra-planetary mining technology soup to nuts and in comparable time to public investment, you should be licking Elon Musk's boots.
Damn if only we could use that cash for something else.
You cant mine without reliable spaceflight, which is whats being proven now. Obviously spacex's cash would not be used to buy everyone dinner if they stopped spaceflight operations, so im not sure how your take is in the realm of reality. If you want to attribute spacex's work to elon alone then thats your business.
The following interplanetary flights to Mars: Sojourner (1997), Spirit (2004–2010), Opportunity (2004–2018), Curiosity (2012–present), Perseverance (2021-Present), and Zhurong (2021-2022) weren't enough to "prove out reliable space flight" for you?
You need MarsCoin to do it?
We’re not mining anything in space anytime soon. The climate crisis will end that possibility long before we can develop automated systems sufficient to get the mechanics in place and ore safely back to wherever it’s needed on Earth.
Right now spaceflight is just another profit vehicle for billionaires. The don’t get paid because of the work the companies do, they get paid because the stocks they have from those companies keep going up.
I think this comic might be suggesting that they’re leaving the planet since it’s all used up and the worker is sitting there with nothing left on the planet as the rich flys off to another planet? I don’t think it’s specifically angry at space flight.