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The Impracticality and Cost of Space Travel (Materials to build spacecraft…
The Impracticality and Cost of Space Travel
Materials to build spacecraft are expensive
Shuttles are made of aluminum composites, and special thermal protection tiles.
Components include a gigantic fuel tank (which is lost upon launch) and rocket boosters, as well as the main shuttle. The shuttle itself is reusable.
Thermal materials made of carbon, silica ceramic, special insulation, etc. Expenive to produce.
Total cost to build a shuttle is over a billion dollars.
Total cost over time for NASA shuttle program (does not include probes or satellites) is nearly 200 billion dollars.
Donors and supporters need to be convinced space travel is a worthy expense
NASA recieves main funding from the government.
Funding was cut during Obama's terms.
NASA's current budget is 22 billion per year.
In contrast, in 1966 they spent nearly 46 billion (adjusted for inflation)
Perhaps people and the government are starting to realize why space travel is expensive and unrealistic (in terms of leaving our own galaxy.)
Until they discover new tech to create faster spacecraft, NASA's funding will stay low in comparison to before.
Universe much too vast to get anywhere with current technology
We are unable to travel at speeds fast enough to reach even the edge of our solar system within a reasonable amount of time
Hard to find volunteers to actually go these long distances
Would take more than 9 years to get to Pluto
The time of each trip is doubled to account for return time
Would take 300 years to reach the edge of the Oort cloud, which wraps around our solar system
It would take 30,000 years to reach the edge of the solar system
The
Voyager 1
Is currently on its way through the solar system. It was launched in 1997 and is still on its way there today. It has only just reached interstellar space.