New planet-hunting telescope begins search

[UM-Bot]

NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is now on the hunt for habitable extrasolar worlds.

https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/320092/new-planet-hunting-telescope-begins-search

[Seti42]

This is cool and everything (don't get me wrong, I love space science, and wish it was funded like the human race cared. But no; war is the money project.)...But...Maybe we should train our limited budgets on our own solar system first. There is so much we don't know.

Edited July 29, 2018 by Seti42

[Waspie_Dwarf]

1 hour ago, Seti42 said:

But...Maybe we should train our limited budgets on our own solar system first. There is so much we don't know.

Think about this argument, and then take it to it's logical conclusion and you will see the error in it.

If you argue that we shouldn't study exoplanets because there is much we don't know about the solar system then you have to argue that we shouldn't study the other planets in the solar system because there is so much we don't know about Earth.

There is so much we don't know about  life on earth maybe we should only study biology and not study other sciences.

There is much we don't know about the human body so maybe we shouldn't study other creatures.

My arguments are, quite obviously, ridiculous, but they follow the same basic logic as yours.

Knowledge is not an isolated series of unconnected islands, it fits together like a jigsaw puzzle. Knowledge in one field frequently leads to discoveries in a totally different field.The ONLY way to understand our solar system fully is by comparing it to others. How will we know if Earth is typical or unique if we don't look to the stars?

 

[paperdyer]

I agree we need to look, but if we find one with life instead of just being suitable, do we have a game plan to go further?  I would hope so.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

12 minutes ago, paperdyer said:

Ido we have a game plan to go further?  I would hope so.

Like what? We are very far short of having the technology to examine an exoplanet close up.

[paperdyer]

True, but isn't necessity the mother of invention?

[Waspie_Dwarf]

1 hour ago, paperdyer said:

True, but isn't necessity the mother of invention?

You can't just magic up new technologies. We could no more build a starship than the Victorians could build a 747. Technology progresses step by step, discovery by discovery.