what's the leftist take on space exploration

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > C-SPAM > what's the leftist take on space exploration

Aglet56: Sep 1, 2011

is it a bourgeois waste of surplus labor or is it an important area of scientific research?

in general, i think modern leftism's relationship with bourgeois science is cautious at best. but of course every nerd wants to see cool sci-fi poo poo so the appeal of space science is impossible to ignore.

of course, american space travel is heavily propagandized and prominently features heroes from the US military (john glenn, neil armstrong, etc.). the classic apollo-era space program is very much a product of pro-american cold war propaganda, and you don't have to dig deep to find the anti-communist underpinnings of NASA at the time

nowadays, space travel is also becoming commercialized with spacex and all that too

so anyways, what does cspam think? in your ideal america, would space exploration be funded?

# ¿ Oct 31, 2020 06:23

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# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 04:55

Aglet56: Sep 1, 2011

The Saucer Hovers posted:

see, this is the content i was looking for

# ¿ Oct 31, 2020 07:16

Aglet56: Sep 1, 2011

will you settle for one of the tentacley galaxy quest aliens

# ¿ Aug 18, 2021 00:55

Aglet56: Sep 1, 2011

quote:

The European Space Agency (ESA) started out with seemingly noble intentions: "We'll open the door to the universe." "The Solar System - a home to all." And so on an so forth.

It didn't take long for these catchphrases to reveal themselves for what they truly were - colonial ambitions wrapped up in lofty ideals. We, the builders and first inhabitants of O'Neill 1 have witnessed this first-hand. The ESA sent us into space with promises of a new life and a better tomorrow. Instead, what lay in wait for us was a complete lack of freedom and back-breaking work in extremely dangerous conditions.

We would've pulled through, we would've toughed it out for the greater good - if only they treated us as human beings, informed us of their decisions, listened to our concerns and requests... But the ESA ignored us.

The consequences were inevitable - in 2022, after completing construction of the station, our situation was critical. Station management demanded eighteen hours of work every day, seven days a week from everyone - regardless of age or health condition. Our peaceful protest was met with a disproportionate use of force, which included stun-guns. They thought it would break us, just like the countless protests they broke back on Earth.

The thing is, out here it's not so easy to call for reinforcements. Workers outnumbered guards 40:1, and one stun-gun charge held only fifteen rounds. The ESA's management had effectively shot themselves in the foot. It was over before they could realize - only seven hours passed before O'Neill 1 and O'Neill 2 declared independence and became the first nations established outside of Earth...

this was a cool bit of lore in cyberpunk 2077

# ¿ Jan 13, 2022 05:48

Aglet56: Sep 1, 2011

Hatebag posted:

The administration of nasa is a bunch of god damned morons who directly caused every shuttle explosion by cheaping out on maintenance and ignoring repeated requests by their engineers to fix problems. They probably are also bribed by boeing and presumably other aerospace companies as well:

the shuttle was extremely dangerous from its inception (well, moreso than most space vehicles). the reusable heat shield tiles proved to be extremely finicky (and indeed, heat shield failures wound up destroying columbia). engineers were so concerned about heat shield failures that they considered installing a crane in the shuttle so they could investigate replace tiles in orbit.

many design decisions in the shuttle were due to the project receiving DoD funding with the promise that the shuttle could both launch and retrieve spy satellites in a polar orbit, a capability which was never used.

more details in this article from 1980, a year before the first shuttle launch: http://www.iasa-intl.com/folders/shuttle/GoodbyeColumbia.html

# ¿ Aug 24, 2022 23:12

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > C-SPAM > what's the leftist take on space exploration