Another Reason I Hate People

I'm at work, checking up on things on Google News* when I come across the headline: "What Scientists Hope to Learn From a Wisp of Comet Dust." Which, of course, makes me wonder: "What do they hope to find?" Which leads to: "Something useful?" Which in turn makes me ask: "How long until space exploration is privately funded?"

I mean, we already have Virgin Galactic courtesy of "that Branson bloke" and last year's X-Prize winners. So it seems the development of global travel via space is going to be taken private. Next step, moon holidays?

And speaking of the moon, we all know there are large bounties of resources beyond our planet, and eventually, someone's gonna wanna go get 'em. What if there's something valuable/useful in that comet's tail? What if there're other things we could use out there? On the moon? On an asteroid? On Mars? On any other planet?

How long until a cement company really wants to go to the moon? Why put up with ever more stringent environmental contraints on your quarries and mining processes when you can just go somewhere with no environment to speak of?

And then there's waste disposal! Just imagine - collect everyone's trash, put it all in a rocket, and off she goes. Question is, do we fire it off into the asteroid belt to be obliterated, or just send it off into the biggest incinerator in the Solar System? Make a huge mess, or potentially screw with the Sun's chemistry? You know there'll be someone down the line who'd be willing to make that decision, and also willing to make the "our waste is killing our planet, but if we send it off the planet..." argument and who'd be willing to provide the service at a reasonable fee.

Or what if a company wants to make a huge real estate coup and lay claim to another planet? Disney's Pluto. Talk about Space Mountain! Or screw Venus - now it's G-nus!

But the bigger questions are: Who's gonna stop it? Who's gonna control it? And environmentally - right now we're all working with stuff found here on Earth. What happens when we start to import and process large quantities of extra-terrestrial matter? Will our eco-systems be able to handle the new materials and wastes? Will we, as an "intelligent" species, care as long as we can have Moon Slate marking the path to our front door?

I know it all sounds pretty silly right here, right now. My style tends not to mitigate the silliness. And heck, this is coming from the guy who hates the woman on the TV commercial, waits on pins and needles for Endless Shrimp at Red Lobster, and is seriously considering his costume options for the coming "International Talk Like a Pirate Day" (only 245 days!).

Fact is, though, we've faced, and continue to face, these kinds of questions right here, right now. When it comes to mining places like the rainforests, the oceans, and large tracts of undeveloped land** in search of the things we "need," we're already making tough decisions, sometimes at an unforseen or rationalized cost. And if it comes to privatization and profit, I'm personally not too comfortable with where our collective heads are.

Wow. Read one stinking headline and all of a sudden, I'm an environmental crusader. I should stick to the sports and entertainment sections. This blows. Funny thing is - I never even got around to reading the article.



*Damn you Google and your enfuriating propensity to provide services which I find useful! I've still got my eye on you. But two quotes come to mind:
"I pure straight HATE you [Google]. But Goddammit, I respect you!"
And to wax William Wallace: "You can give me my news, but you will never have... my e-maaaaail!"

**Trying really hard not to make the Python joke, here.