Does anyone else think the space program is a WASTE?

Question

Do you think we're wasting our money on the space program? I think its just a left over tradition from the cold war. Why do we feel the need to waste money when we could be solving problems down here on earth like our education system? Would it be such a crazy idea if we took those billions of dollars and spent it on making a better society? People tell me the technology from the space program has influenced our lives. That may be true, but who's lives? THE RICH! Those are the users of top end technology. We keep blasting people into space and they float up there and then come down. Oh, and the space shuttle is an old piece of crap. Awesome!

First off, to those who answered my questions with facts and didn't share my opinion. I appreciate you.

To the guy who called me a dumbass because I have an opinion. You just made yourself one.

I put this up because I wanted opinons from both sides. You don't need to insult me because of it.

Its yahoo Answers, not Yahoo Insults.

Answer 1

YES SIR!!! Not so much the whole program but rather the studying planets we know are uninhabitable for no damn reason. Sending drones out to find what asteriods are made of, like who gives F@#K we could never hope to do anything to one except try to make it vere off course with the Earth. The only thing the space program could be good for is establishing stations on Mars and then a moon of Saturn and just working are way further into space until maybe we find a planet the same distance from a Sun the same size as ours for the slim hope that it hasn't developed any intelligent life and we could use it to expand the human race. Other then that most of the crap they do like landing on he moon and collecting rocks is a total waste of money.

Answer 2

Manned space exploration is possibly a waste. Robotic space exploration is a tremendously cost-effective way to do science. Understanding the solar system we live in is tremendously important both from a practical standpoint in understanding the planet we live on and from a romantic standpoint in that there lots of kids out there that read sci-fi and think space exploration is extremely cool.

In terms of practical applications, the fleet of GOES weather birds in orbit is a direct result of the robotic space program, and everyone benefits from that information. The Navstar constellation (aka GPS) is another good example. Finally, global telecommunications benefits enormously from satellite transmissions. Militarily, the Keyhole spy satellites were extremely useful during the cold war, we didn't have to fly spy planes over the USSR and the Soviets couldn't screw in the bushes without the U.S. knowing about it.

I'm sure I've forgotten a few applications, but you are right that if you went through your house there would be not very many nifty gizmos that resulted from the space program. That does not mean you do not make use of the technology, a lot of it is fairly deeply integrated in modern life so you don't notice it or used by people you never come into contact with but are important to you in ways you never think about.

Here's something right up your alley:

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/47977

Answer 3

Go and look up the amount of money spent on space exploration and then compare it with the amount already being spent down here fixing the problems you say could be beter worked on with the extra money from the space program. Space exploration is a highly visible use of money, but it does not mean it is a huge waste.

NASA gets $17billion next financial year. HUNDREDS of bilions of dollars are devoted from the US Federal Budget to health and social security departments. HUNDREDS of billions of dollars are spent on national defence, including more than the entire NASA budget just to build brand new weapons.

And your comment about space research only benefitting the rich is just total hogwash. Got a camcorder? Space research led to that. Enjoying using that nice computer you typed this question on? Space research drove the miniaturisation of computer components. Medical technology has been improved, as has our understanding of human physiology. Weather forecasts? Space research. Global communication? Space research. Satellite TV? Space research. Knowledge of earth's resources? Space research. Space research also provides jobs. That money is spent right here on Earth, not loaded into rockets and blasted into space.

Quality of life IN GENERAL has been improved partly by the space program. For those aspects that have not improved and still need work, the tiny fraction of the US budget that NASA gets really isn't going to make a blind bit of difference to the hundreds of billions of dollars already being spent on those problems. It's not the money, it's the policies.

Answer 4

It is not a waste.
Money does not make a better society. Good people make a better society. If all you do is spend money then you just have a rich bad society.
China and India, who have way more pressing problems than we do, now have space programs.
In the future, maybe a few hundred years from now, when half the jobs in the world are space based, do you want you boss to be Chinese or American?

Answer 5

It may look wasteful, but in the end, it's much better than fighting unwinnable wars, in Iraq, for example where a whopping 1 billion dollars goes down the drain every other day! It is much the same in our own individual lives as well. Don't we purchase items of luxury when we can make do with simpler and cheaper ones and donate the money instead to those really in need? That is how the real world works and will remain so for as long as we remain human.

Answer 6

Couldn't disagree with you more. Firstly, we spend an absurdly small amount of money on it compared to the military. We spend more on that then the rest of the world combined nd most of it for R&D for weapons systems they have no intention of ever using. It's just graft for defense cntractors.

HUGE numbers of technological advances have come from the space industry in innumerable fields, not just toys for the very rich.

Also, our "long term" survival as a species depends on our leaving the nest one day. Earth is not eternal, nor is our sun. Indeed, a mass-extinction will end us one day unless we've spread out. One happens every hundred million years or so an we're due.

Thirdly, of all the rotton things we can say about our species, and they are legion, the one truly beautiful and noble thing we have going for us is that we are explorers. THAT is the one thing that really does make us human. Other animals think, make and use tools... Higher animals (Elephants, great apes, dolphins/whales, etc) have even been known to commit acts of unnescessary violence though we like to distinguish ourselves that way as well.

THE ONLY UNIQUE HUMAN ONLY TRAIT: We explore.

Answer 7

Fuel cells were developed to support the space program. Now fuel cells are being developed for use in family cars (when we run out of petroleum and turn to hydrogen). What don't you understand? Would you rather live within walking distance of your job or have the freedom of travel even if you are never rich. The interesting question would be to evaluate our present society (including power use, computers and medicine, etc.) if the space program did not support much past research.

Answer 8

the ingredient approximately technology is it generally has unpredicted consequences. that's not practiced in a vacuum. I agree that the gap application has wasted an excellent sort of money fixing fairly stupid stuff that somebody could have been caught earlier (Mars: hit the planet, win a prize!). an excellent sort of recent innovations got here from the gap application, case in point the plastic used to construct synthetic hearts grew to become into developed for the gap application. additionally, issues like infants dying from curable ailments are actually not fullyyt based in economics. to in straight forward terms throw funds at an issue and assume it to bypass away could be ignoring the extra complicated political and technological issues that made this a disaster interior the 1st place. interior the 1880s there grew to become right into a extensive push for investment to help people who have been dying of famines. wager what? They have been given all that funds and the problem did not bypass away. There are nonetheless political and technological issues that would desire to be solved. apparently adequate, it would desire to be NASAa learn interior the Arctic into colonizing Mars that would help us over come the technological obstacles to agriculture in arid areas.

Answer 9

The small fraction of government funds allotted towards the space program would hardly make a dent in the problems you think we could fix.

Educate yourself as to the benefits we have achieved if not the mysteries we have solved due to our space program.

Answer 10

I kind of like my computer (spaceprogram byproduct) with which I can insult people like you. So the spaceprogram hasn´t been a total waste...