Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Fox]

Article here.

[stilicho25]

Yes, this sort of thing is very worthwhile. Setting the atmosphere for industry to thrive is a good use of taxpayer money. The exploration of space will lead to man's ability to harness the resources of the solar system instead of just the earth. Whatever nation pioneers this will reap the benefits down the road. Plus, it's cool. And I like Firefly.

[UknowsI]

Difficult question. The case is that some research is very cheap, while other research is so expensive. Many types of research only require a computer lab, where 90% of the expenditure goes to the scientists' wages, while I guess the large majority of the cost for space research is the physical cost of the rockets/cargo.

Personally I think theoretical physics and astronomy is great, but it's very hard to compare the spendings with anything else.

[Komichi]

I would like to see a bigger focus on the more immediate benefits offered by the biological sciences. But I did like the idea mentioned in the article of simply investing in another country's research. I don't see a problem with each country primarily specializing in one area, if we all can reap the benefits.

[northway]

Mostly worthless. Put the money into schools.

[Sergio Stefanuto]

Space exploration produces negligible benefits in my opinion. I certainly support state-funded scientific research and development, mind you, but I would prefer it if we spent the money on something more useful.

[Konglishman]

[Konglishman]

[UknowsI]

There are obviously a lot of indirect benefits of space explorations. Space exploration requires cutting edge technology, and I think the same scientists working in other fields would not have come up with the same inventions. The direct benefits of space explorations are much more difficult to quantify. The benefits of the initial space explorations were huge. Satellites are great, but few people realised how important they would be when the first rockets were sent into space. However, further space exploration beyond earth's orbit hasn't brought many obvious benefits. Space exploration is very much a high risk high return science. The cost is huge, but there might potentially be great benefits somewhere far into the future, or there might even be benefits closer in time which we are not aware of yet. Many of these benefits will be benefits for mankind, and I therefore think it's fair for all the modernized nations to share the cost.

[Kuros]

Sure. We can cut some of the fluff social programs to do so.

[some waygug-in]

Yeah we wouldn't get cool websites like this:

http://www.google.ca/images?hl=en&q=mars+3d+images&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=cw4mTbO-OZGosAOnrqDPAQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCIQsAQwAA&biw=1215&bih=792

or this:

http://www.stereoscopy.com/mars/

[mises]

The private sector relies heavily on public investment. Public research is a subsidy to private business. Even research that can not be monetized easily is often worthwhile. I don't know anything about the content of the OP so I can't comment on if the specific research in the OP is appropriate, but I'd lean towards continuing it.

[Steelrails]

I would say that space research contributed greatly to our knowledge of computers, propulsion, miniaturization, lasers, etc.

A lot of the tech there transfers over to both the military and into the commercial market. Normally I lean free-market, but this space research is a sphere that tends to produce "firsts" and has technology that can be adapted to various fields.

[Space Bar]

[rollo]

I think most governments invest in scientific research and many in Space. I know that Canada is looking to build its own rockets. Of course these are investments that only payout in the long run but I think they are worth while.