Well, what was the Universe designed for?

Couldn't have been for life, or there wouldn't be so much deadly vacuum.

But life is here, at least for this little mote of dust in the Everfar of Everything. With this in mind, we must determine that the Universe was designed for us, ergo for exploitation.

And, no, the other side of the mountain was never enough for me, and it's not enough for my kids, either. We continue to push and learn, always wanting to not just know what's over there, but to go and see it for ourselves. And if it's really nice over there, we think about moving there for a while.

As for R.L.'s issues on Universal morals for the achievement of spce flight, he's asked this one before, I think (some years ago) and the results of that poll were -- at best, inconclusive. I don't think they'll change much here and now. There are so many factors to consider, such as the existence continents that divide peoples; the existence of surface water, or land at all; the ability of a life form to realize a need for tools, to envision tools, to make tools, to grasp tools, and to use tools; an ability to "see" a sky and stars, to make one wonder what's out there; and countless others.

Did you ever read Asimov's "Nemesis"? An interesting bit that included a companion star for Sol, a planet revolving around this companion, and an alien that was mentally very advanced, but still a microorganism on the surface, and within the surface of the planet. That is, it was a "colony" of independent microorganisms. That is, it was a single entity that controlled a planetwide colony of independent microorganisms. Well, it was wise enough to understand the concept of space flight, but acheiving space flight was far beyond its physical ability. Interesting. Anyway, the Earth was sending a large colony ship out to the planet, and the alien "built" and eye to watch their approach. A long, drawn out read (as was the way with Isaac), but a rewarding journey to the unknown.

Cheers,
Dan