Goddamnit. Can you imagine being alive at a time when we finally confirm that life is not unique to Earth? I’m going to lose my shit.
Every time there is claim that Earth is some unique snowflake we are eventually proven wrong.
Some things that were said to be unique to Earth include being the center of the universe, being the only planet with a moon, being in a solar system, having an atmosphere, etc.
Yeah, we will eventually find life on Mars. Or at least solid confirmation that it did exist at some point.
Even if we find out Mars has always been lifeless, we’ll find it somewhere eventually. I’m also convinced we’re going to find something clearly alive (or that was once alive) that completely redefines our entire idea of life. Dunno what that could be, but like you said, every time we think something is unique, we find out it ain’t. Our definition of life is going to turn out to be too narrow, eventually.
It depends on time and distance. We may never find life, even if there’s a lot of it out there. This would be the case even if we had a lot of time and the ability to travel fast, but it is especially unlikely if we destroy our our capacity for technology through, for example, climate change-induced societal collapse or nuclear war. And that’s the road we’re presently on.
the win that NASA needs is to stop having their budget slashed
But privatization makes everything better 🤢
Privatization done right can make things better, but done badly it always always makes things infinitely worse. It’s almost always done badly though, by bureaucrats with vested interests.
Even if done “right” privatization is the wrong choice for a lot of things. Like everything that should be a service for all citizens: postal service, health care, water, electricity, …
When greed is introduced into these services people will suffer for it. Just look at all the examples of privatizations and show me where the outcome was positive for the people.