Love the Gil Scott Heron inclusion. It’s made no less relevant by the fact that 15 African-Americans have gone into space; more than 350 whites have gone to space.

This discussion has been ongoing ever since space travel became reality. The costs are enormous, and for all the talk about “humans will have to leave earth one day to survive” there is not even a glimmer of ability to terraform another world. And there is not a world that can be terraformed anywhere within reach. Furthermore, the odds on natural causes chasing us off this planet pale compared to the odds of us destroying our ability to reside here.

If we cannot manage a perfectly good livable planet, are we even worthy of attempting to try to live on another planet? My reply is NO.