Problem with judging if we know a lot or only a little about physics is - we do not know the total, the complete, the ultimate, the final "physics" of the universe. We also cannot say if our knowledge, our mind interacts with the physics of the unioverse, and maybe changes them. We make assumptions on how it is there - but we do not kinow how it is there, as long as we haven'T been there. Knowing a lot, or a little: such a judgement depends on what we compare our knowledge level to. Maybe we already know a damn lot. Maybe we know close to nothing. We simply do not know that. Five hundred years ago, people thought they knew most of what is to be known. Five hundred years before, people thought they knew a lot as well. And before them, people did not thought different. If we tell someone from the medieval that we walk on the moon, we would be burned, maybe, for teaching black magic. Today, we say "quantum physics", or whatever, and again we think we know a lot. Do we? With every answer we found, more questions have appeared. It is an often used phrase, but what we have learned in the main is how - little we do know.
And why this obsession with linear space flight, flying at high speed from A to B? I'm sure that there are ways to get "there". I am also sure it will not be done by linear movement from "here" to "there".
And what use could it be if we recognize and understand that universe "out there" - without having a far more profound understanding of ourselves? Like it is today, spaceflight would only acchieve one thing: that we transport our mental deficits, psychological malfunctions, or short: all our troubles and earthly problems between the stars. And who ever may be there - maybe would not like to see an aggressive neurotic leaving his home and infesting his neighbourhood with his private issues.
If I were "them", I already would have set planet Earth under quarantine. Looking at tpday's world, we can hardly claim to have learned to use our biological assets to our and our planet'S best. Maybe some far away day in the future - if we avoid suicide that long.
Space travel. Nice and well. It is often said that we know more about the dark side of the moon, than about the deep sea below a level of let'S say 2000m. All we know that that place is far more alive and "hot" then was thought in previous decades. Maybe we start learning about our most existential living variables, before looking to join starship Enterprise. The technological challenge is as big. Some say it even is bigger.
While I am at it: german Top-bestseller "The swarm" by Frank Schätzing is about to be released in English language end of this month, says amazon.com. Currently reading it myself, and I am hooked. Concentrating on the navl environemnt, it is a mixture of mystery-thriller, scifi, suspense, adventure, ecology- and desaster-thriller. 1000 pages, mjam-mjam! Good fodder for holidays. It's the story of earth's seas turning against mankind, and nature taking revenge foruman ignoration towards his natural living sphere. Or is there something behind it all that alraedy starts to wage war against man...? Near the end, it really gets cataclysmic. That's why hollywood said it has started to turn it into a blockbuster-format movie. Oh, very living and precise characterizations opf protagonists. There are plenty of these, because once the dying begins, it does not stop for a long while
There is also a lot of educational material on maritime life and naval geology.
Very good entertainment!