some people think that nasa is just wasting money on shuttle flights etc...what do you think?

Question

my feeling is that yes, it does cost a ton of money to build space ships, maintain them, fuel them up and send them into outer space, but then i look at the fact that the money that is spent is being re-circulated back into the economy via jobs, businesses, etc. and i feel better about it...any body else have any thoughts?

both good answers guys, but not really what i had in mind...thx.

I really wish people would read my question through, especially the part about the money going back into the economy...

Answer 1

I am not an American but I have to give credit and A BIG BIG THANK YOU to American people, because with their tax money NASA is "on the move". Humanity has been able to obtain too much knowledge through the NASA programs.
I can not say that it is or was or will be waste of money. All the fields of science have got something. Others much others less.

I wish the American Government to reconsider about the maintenance of the Humble Telescope and not cancel its finances.

About economical results???? for every nission or program..... Some thousand people have their way to "bring bacon home" and all the parts need to be manufactured. so count Hundrends of thousands. I think that the US advanced technology and related industries gain the most of the profit.

Answer 2

I think the real problem is that NASA does not do good publicizing the research that goes on in the shuttle missions. Spin off technologies are great, and yes a lot of money does get feed back into the economy, but the real advantage is from the knowledge gained by experiments they conduct. With out this research could just as easily spend the time and money in another sector (exploring the depths of the ocean is an example) and the payoffs would be similar. If any Hubble proved that their are advantages to putting telescopes and other detectors in space. Then there is also all the GPS and weather satellites.

Answer 3

Unlike during our mostly successes in the 1960s and early 1970s with space flight, the accidents of two Shuttle missions has prompted many people to feel that Shuttle flights are now mostly a waste of money. (The 1967 fire of Apollo One on the ground was an exception back then.) Many good things in science come from various space missions. We have to maintain the focus on attaining a goal from having all of the space missions. Working towards a goal is one thing. Having repeated Shuttle flights, over and over, with no "progress" being made or seen is quite a different matter. Politics has a lot to d with how much we spend on the space program.

Answer 4

I don't think NASA is just wasting money, because every shuttle flight has a purpose. Each shuttle flight brings us closer to advancements in space exploration and the like.

Answer 5

Manned flights to space are neccisary to repair and maintaine many of the thousands of satellites which are vital to our communications network, military, weather monitoring systems, and the likes. The benefits far outweigh the costs.

Answer 6

I agree with Cascade Ranger. It is expensive and I would like to see private industry get into the game (which they are) but if it wasn't for NASA getting the ball rolling then a lot of things we take for granted now would not be around.

Answer 7

If you visit the NASA complex in Florida they have a museum of some of the things we use everyday that are the rusult of their research.

Answer 8

i think ur right. space exploration is a complete waste of time and money. why tha heck would anyone ever wanna live in space any way? plus, people just keep on getting killed because of stupid mistakes that dumb scientists make. if you ask me, anyone that goes into space is a moron.

Answer 9

we have learned a lot from these flights in the field of medicane/// keep it up... beats wasting money on the green house effect