[LibWhacker]

Yes, but what you are proposing is essentially 300 years of naval gazing. Telescopes are on the drawing board right now that can study these planetary atmospheres in some detail. Why wait? You are not going to halt the continued development and use of them. In fact, now that I mention it, when exactly would you be okay with studying exoplanet atmospheres remotely? Or do you want us to wait until we can jump into the Starship Enterprise and fly off to sample these planets firsthand for life? Luddism comes in many forms, one of which is interminable delay.

And, OF COURSE, it's not just about oxygen, but about everything life pumps into the atmosphere. The atmosphere is practically a living organism itself. Why not study it and learn what you can? To say that you can't learn anything about life by studying atmospheres is pure rubbish.

[Wuli]

Go ahead, spend YOUR money on it. For the near forseeable future it is not worthy of human endeavor other than to pay people with too much idle speculation time on their hands and expensive toys, paid for by someone else, to do it with.

[Wuli]

“And, OF COURSE, it’s not just about oxygen, but about everything life pumps into the atmosphere. The atmosphere is practically a living organism itself.”

A very earth-centric view, as if every planet with an atmosphere has life. Total nonsense.