Mutts wrote:
[much]

Totally agree as to humankinds imagination and spirit to conquer.

Moon, Mars and beyond are no different from the frontiers of the past

Except in the past they didn't have to carry their own atmosphere, water &
food were usually available in some form, temperatures didn't vary
plus/minus hundreds of degrees, radiation was unheard of (not counting
sunburn), and if something broke you could generally stop to fix it, even if
it took a year or two, and there might even be another living being to
assist..

A very large portion of the early conquering of our noble terrestrial world,
was to pad the bank account of the conqueror with pillaged gold, slaves,
short cuts for trade routes, etc. (sometimes not that particularly noble no
matter how herculean the effort), many simply to become famous and hopefully
rich, and many just for the sheer experience.

I'm not saying eliminate space exploration, only use some common sense as to
balance what we have for resources (both monetary & technical), what we
actually need to accomplish the goal, what we might practically benefit/gain
from the endeavor vs. pure political bull**** and waste. I think we're
presently pushing the envelope for our present state of everything
concerned. A little later, or a lot later, who knows what'll happen..