Originally Posted by
ATSA1
although the latest Spacex launch went without a hitch, and the whole Crew Dragon spacecraft seems to be doing its job very well, The Boeing Starliner is still in the development phase..if the 2nd test flight does not go well this summer, one wonders if the whole program will get canned..
Which leads me on to my point..with the stunning success of Perseverance on Mars, especially the Ingenuity Mars helicopter,, is crewed spaceflight still relevant?
So Spacex have the contract to land humans back on the Moon, after 50 odd years..What will these new Astronauts achieve, that the Apollo crews didnt?
Back in the 50s and 60s, automation was in its infancy, computers were crude and unreliable, so sending a man (or woman) up into space was the politically sound option..
But now the politcal will is somewhat different, and off-the-shelf hardware can make space exploration with probes a far cheaper (and more reliable) option.
any thoughts?
Well, your reply makes sense. I also don't understand why space agencies can't stop launching crewed missions. Or rather I understand that landing people on other planets means a lot for the whole world, shows the level of technical development, and something like that, but why do all forget about the risks? I also would like to be an astronaut and get into space, but I too much love my life. Space exploration is possible without people, and we all need to understand it and stop this space race.