Yawn.
Maybe we will get something other than Teflon out this latest trip. I fail to see a ROI from spending 100 billion dollars sending a handful of woke people around the moon, when there are so many other initiatives we could do that would improve our lives on earth.
Ha ha, yes, good point 
. This was also a political issue during the Apollo program. I would rather live in a country with a good health care system, than one that has a good space exploration system.
PS/ Over the years, the more I think about humans in deep and interstellar space, the more idiotic the concept is to me. We are stuck in our magnetic bottle for good I think.
Brent, this is an amazing engineering feat. I just question it's value. The Apollo program revealed cosmic rays punching holes through space suit lids, and through astronaut's heads. They saw flashes of light when this happened. Apollo 11 was an 8 day journey. Imagine 6-9 months of cosmic radiation exposure at the rate these astronauts were exposed to, and completely out of the earth's and moon's magnetospheres ?
I did a basic calculation once to calculate the energies required to divert an typical cosmic ray away from a ship. My calcs were basic and assumed perfect conditions. The energies required were not outrageous, but what if a big bugger from a super nova was heading for the ship ?. What about other stuff like high speed dust ?. It's ok if you're Pioneer 10. That's not going to kill it.
Space travel is brutal, we have not evolved to survive there. Or on the highest mountains. Or sailing the oceans for years at a time. But the bravest amongst us do these activities despite the risks. Their stories teach us what we can achieve. I think there's more value in that for our species than the endless folly of war.
Agreed Brent however I also give credit to the 'id rather spend the money on............' argument.
"The launch team loaded more than 2.6 million litres of fuel into the 32-story Space Launch System rocket on the pad, setting the stage for the Artemis II crew to board"
Hydrogen fuel, but for example.
(H) buses can transport the masses
(H) can generate power.
(H) biproduct is water.
Given our current environment?
Images make no sense to me. >20 years had me firmly convinced the earth was flat!!!
I hear what you're saying Brett. Australia would not have been discovered with my attitude. But I bet the Apollo program had little knowledge of this radiation hazard, and just sent it. Where as the Artemis crew have lifted on minimum sol activity, and are gobbing down radiation sickness pills.
