Author Topic: What can we do to get young people more supportive of space exploration?  (Read 23829 times)

Offline Star One

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I'll tell you what killed it for me - the gap between Apollo and Shuttle. Despite an intense interest, I went into another industry for that reason. And the gap we're in right now (post Shuttle) happened at the same time in my kids' lives.  And, no, commercial crew cycling to the ISS doesn't count. It's just a taxi service and just as exciting.

So, have exciting things going on that involve people in space. Get rid of the damned gaps!

What gap are we still in then? Either the return of the taxi service counts as the end of the gap, or Space Shuttle was part of the gap.

We're in a boom in space startups that has been building up for years now.

The Space Shuttle flights often involved a high-density of EVAs performed by the Shuttle astronauts, the delivery of hardware beyond just people, or at least the delivery and berthing of an MPLM, followed by a Shuttle landing at KSC.  A Dragon launch with cargo or 4 long-term ISS crew members followed by an ocean splashdown is like watching paint dry by comparison.

For me, space as it is right now is as boring as it has been during my lifetime.
For me it’s more interesting and inspiring than it has been for ages be it in scientific probes or private space missions like Inspiration4 with the great accompanying documentary. That’s space coverage done right.

Offline Star One

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Of course, those are legitimate concerns. But what's annoying is the either-or / false dichotomy proposition that space travel must be abandoned completely to fix poverty or the environment.

I think that's a view more commonly (and falsely) ascribed to people by space fans than actually held by people. Most of the general public couldn't care less either way.

Wrong.

I'm a volunteer for an obscure little space museum in the Netherlands. One of our activities is that we organize lectures about spaceflight and astronomy subjects. After each lecture there is time for questions and discussion.

Over the past 24 years I've seen many times where people in the audience came up with "we must abandon spaceflight and use the funds to fix poverty/famine/climate change".

This thing is NOT a view falsely held by space fans. It actually does exist in the general public and it's been in existence for a long time. The first comments of this nature from the general public go as far back as the Apollo program.
It’s not hard to find protest songs and even poems of the time against the program.
« Last Edit: 10/10/2021 08:05 pm by Star One »

Offline JackWhite

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Everything is already done in countries where there are technologies and demands on astronauts (USA, China, Russia etc.). Kids and especially young people are not much different from adult people out there - if they see the potential place where they can realize their potential and talents, they will go this way no matter what. So we as parents or adults just can help these talents to find their way. That's it :)

Offline Lar

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Generally thoughtful and polite discussion ... thanks for that, folks!

A caution, careful to stay out of politics. I saw in a very early post a call for raising taxes on the wealthy. That's politics. Thanks for not chasing that very far, everyone.
"I think it would be great to be born on Earth and to die on Mars. Just hopefully not at the point of impact." -Elon Musk
"We're a little bit like the dog who caught the bus" - Musk after CRS-8 S1 successfully landed on ASDS OCISLY

Offline Cherokee43v6

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With Shatner flying on New Shepard 18 tomorrow, we as space fans need to be ready to discuss the positives of space flight with anyone and everyone.  We need to be ready to defend the idea that the expenditure of funds to advance humanity in that direction is worth it.

We need to make sure that people understand that the money spent to do these things is not wasted.  It pays for people to do the work necessary to make it happen and that we would far rather see Bezos, Branson and Musk spending their billions to do this instead of corporations like Apple who sit on billions in cash and do nothing with it.

We need to make sure people understand that yes, it is currently expensive and you pretty much have to be a millionaire to afford to do this... NOW...  But that the mere fact that a private person can now buy a ticket for a suborbital flight or even orbital flight is a major step forward toward the day when the everyman can do the same.

Every advancement has followed this pattern.  Airbags started as an expensive option on cars that only the wealthy could initially afford.  Now they're required equipment on even the most basic model, because technology advancement and scale of production reduced their expense to that point.

We have to make clear that we are still at the beginning of this journey, and the road goes on.
« Last Edit: 10/12/2021 03:30 pm by Cherokee43v6 »
"I didn't open the can of worms...
        ...I just pointed at it and laughed a little too loudly."

Offline Eric Hedman

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While it would be nice to have more young people interested in and supporting space exploration, I think we're doing a pretty good job already.  We'll never have everybody interested.  We're in a golden age of exploration now.  The growth in capabilities right now is mind boggling compared to the decades after Apollo.  With more and more being done through the private sector, I think space activities including expansion into deeper space is moving along fine and will become more self sustaining.  I would like it to be moving faster.  But it is moving forward on many fronts better than I've seen in a long time.

Offline Lariliss

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For this answer I am inspired by my own experience as a kid and as a parent.

All the things to know (books, movies, maths, physics) should come at the time when a brain is ready to suck and apprehend them.
But space exploration is a special case, it umbrellas all the knowledge and development.
1. It strikes a 5-year old with impossible heights, beauty and mystery. We are intrinsically pulled for exploration.
2. I can see a lot of educational programs including the Solar system learning and going further for the most known and important missions. School education is the key to fostering interests. At the same time in higher schools the ways of continuing the internships should be explained and jobs suggestions.
3. Show the legacy examples of human heroes, who explored space.
There are good examples, with NASA supporting educational events, when every teenager can make a 3D-printed rocket and send it dozens fit high.
4. Space exploration gives us the best technologies that are intertwined with all industries, with the Earth surveillance, communication, education, and medicine. Showing the whole picture is a benefit, I believe.

Show them that there is no boundaries to go forth.
Number, Letter, Note: Know, Think, Dream

 

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