Why is space exploration so important that billions of dollars go into it?

Answer 1

Space exploration is the physical exploration of outer space by both manned and unmanned spacecraft. The development of large liquid-fueled rocket engines during the early 20th century allowed space exploration to become a practical possibility; it is distinct from the earth-based observation of outer space, known as astronomy, which has occurred for millennia.

Space exploration is more of an investment into the future as it provides the foundation of our knowledge, technology, resources, and inspiration. It seeks answers to the fundamental questions about our experience, responds to recent discoveries and puts in place revolutionary technologies and capabilities to inspire the world and the next generation. For example everyday things such as aluminum foil, saran wrap, LED, soles of your running shoes, your quartz watch, glasses with scratch resistant lenses and doppler radar - many common things you use today come from the space program or related to it. Weather patterns, genetics, food production, power recycling, habitat efficiency - it's all applicable to making life on Earth better and more sustainable. From orbit, with new sensors and other devices, we have learned more about our planet than people did in the previous century. El-Nino crap, fish migrations, plankton blooms, oil spills can be tracked, tropical storms and hurricanes, tracking tsunamis, etc, etc, etc.

Without human participation where is the adventure, the history, the determination as a species. How many early sailors died on this planet’s oceans for thousands of years and even today. It is the price we pay when we venture into the elements be they earth borne or space, albeit all the lives that are loss have a special place in our hearts. Without the exploration of space we cannot evolve as a whole on the rate we are now.

Of course, once you throw politics into the mix as given in today's space exploration environment, the spectacular and publicly quantifiable begin to matter more than the mundane but scientifically useful. As far as going back to the moon and Mars, I'm pro-exploration, but for its own sake rather than for political gain.

While the money spent on space exploration results in new innovations that go on to make more money, I do believe that a portion of that money should be utilized towards solving issues at home first (poverty, famine, pestilence, war - The Four Horsemen of Life!). We need to solve our problems at home before we take them somewhere else. There's no need for people to starve; there's no need for war... Yet we still do. Why not spend a few millions into researching our selfish nature? Find out why we are so self-centered, and then use the massive propaganda machine that we have constructed to do battle with it.

The two aspects (space exploration and solving issues at home) are not mutually exclusive. But we must remember that our perspectives will always outreach our means. This is the sad truth.

Pls. also have a look at the following Yahoo answers link for other views on this subject:

Answer 2

We invest less than $500 billion annually in the military, and maybe $15 billion annually in NASA. Few nations on Earth possess the capital to own our set of arms, but Richard Branson & Paul Allen can at least afford suborbital craft. Economically speaking, space travel is starting to become affordable, but NASA had to figure out the "hard stuff" and the planetary science beforehand.

Considering how a good chunk of expensive military hardware is also destructible by "simple terrorists," one wonders how much all that money would've helped fuel a new space age.

Answer 3

The money spent on space exploration is a drop in the bucket compared to what is spent on useless defense programs such as NMD. The public benifits from NASA research, The NASA Office of Technology Transfer shares, at NO COST, many of NASAs developments with private industry. Some of the benifits the public has enjoyed from this are improved aircraft navigation systems, lasers, software, and even high efficiency heart pumps based on low temperature pumps developed by NASA. How many defense contractors give their technology away?

Answer 4

It's so important because scientists not only want to know about the earth, but the other planet out there too.

Answer 5

Its due to man's natural Curiosity. May be they try to see if there is a loop hole in space where you can reach Heaven by moving faster than the speed of light. Right now the speed we measured relative to earth is a little slow for reaching Heaven isnt?

Answer 6

Eventually, Earth will be destroyed, and they want to see if there is possibly another place in a universe that can support life, so that the human population doesn't necessarily end when Earth does.

Answer 7

We are a curious species always looking to expand our territory. It started in the Rift Valley of Ethiopia and will end with our transition to omnipotence. By the year 2100 humanity will be god-like.

Answer 8

Its cutting edge technology
To do something that we need to invent technologies to do. The new procedures and devices are then used in society, creating new businesses and keeping the economy as a leader in advances and good paying jobs.

Answer 9

To search the great unknown has been a common trait of all civilizations since the dawn of man.

Answer 10

I can answer your question with another question. Where are humans to live once we've used up all of the resources on this planet?