Rob Larter3d ago
I'm as fascinated by the Artemis II mission as many other people, but as scientist I'm frustrated that experts interviewed about it in the media are rarely asked to justify the truly astronomical cost. So far the program is reported to have cost $93Bn, with the direct costs of this mission alone amounting to more than $4Bn. I'm perhaps particularly sensitive to this because I'm frequently asked to justify funding three orders of magnitude smaller that we have used to improve knowledge of how the Antarctic ice sheet will respond to climate change and contribute to future sea-level rise.
Show threaddch  

@PoLaRobs it's OK, USA spends that every hour just keeping the fleet in the Gulf, around 20k$/second. https://irancost.com/ is one of the more entertaining ones.

There's enough money for food, shelter, healthcare, accommodation, education, and a comfortable retirement. It's just not shared correctly.

So yes, it must be *beyond galling* to be a scientist trying to save this beautiful blue dot from becoming literally uninhabitable.

How Much Is the Iran War Costing You?

A live counter tracking the estimated U.S. taxpayer cost of Operation Epic Fury, based on the Pentagon's preliminary estimate of $1 billion per day.

Apr 10 at 8:23amWeb
Show threadRob Larter3d ago
@dch As I'm not an American the tax dollars being spent on both the war and the Artemis program are not mine, but the resources we have on the planet are finite, so everyone is a stakeholder.
Show threaddch  3d ago
@PoLaRobs apologies for assuming you were! and yes we are all sharing in the planet. BTW your previous posts with pictures from Antarctica are spectacular! Many years ago I decided not to do a winter-trip to the Ice, a choice which in hindsight I regret.
Show threadRob Larter3d ago
@dch Thanks. I'll have to live with the guilt of the carbon emissions involved in getting to and from the point of departure for what was mainly a pleasure trip, but when so many others are doing similar things it's difficult to forego such frivolities.
I've never really been keen on the idea of spending a winter down South though. I think the darkness and isolation would eventually get me down.
Show threaddch  3d ago
@PoLaRobs that darkness aspect was in the end why I didn’t go either - now I’m older and wiser and know I would have managed it.
Show threadColman Reilly1d ago
@PoLaRobs @dch but not necessarily fungible, which is what you start thinking when you get too caught up in the myth of money.