Of what value has the International Space Station been?

Question

The space station has been occupied for almost 7 years now. I know that I am the victim of 'reportable' news but has there been any science produced that hasn't already been done aboard the MIR or the short life of SpaceLAB, that justifies it's expense? (Other than marathon running, tourists and the ability to have elementary students ask questions of people who just happen to be in orbit)

Answer 1

I don't think that there really has been any benefit. The Space Shuttle hasn't been reliable enough to keep a full time crew up there, so apparently there have never been enough people up there long enough to run any serious science experiments. Most of the crews seem to spend most of their time either building or repairing the space station itself, rather than doing any scientific studies.

Of course, the simple fact that we have people in space is an experiment in of itself, since we can see what happens to people who spend a long time floating weightless in space (something that is good to know if we ever want to send people to visit other planets), but that that has already been done by the Russians time and time again in their earlier space stations such as Mir. I'm sure that someone might be able to point out some minor benefit or discovery, but I don't get the impression that we have discovered anything new that makes it worth the cost or effort, as far as I know..

The ISS seems to be a big white elephant that has never delivered what it was supposed to since we apparently underestimated the difficulty of keeping and supplying a crew in space for a long period of time.

Answer 2

The main benefit is learning how to live and work in space. And the international cooperation required to run it. Such knowledge will be needed for flights beyond the Moon. I would say the science output has been small.

Answer 3

Human beings are, by nature, born curious explorers of everything. Your question is like asking, "of what use is a newborn child?" You can't predict the course of anyone's life, the consequences of an experiment or what's on the other side of the mountain until you climb to the top. Humans, through their curioustiy, in my view, are helping the cosmic awareness, "The Great Old One", to understand what he or she has created. And in more earthly terms, the results of research create better products that create a better life for us all....research, in any shape or form is of immense value. .

Answer 4

anytime anyone asks "what value is there to space mumbo jumbo?" i say "Velcro"....plain and simple, where would we be without it? if it wasnt for space travel we'd never be able to close our wallets