Is space exploration good or bad?

Question

do you think we should put our money into space exploration?

Answer 1

I think its good. If we are going to outlive this planet we need to be looking into our past and how everything made this planet possible. I think money should be put into it. I think not putting money into it is a good way to be ignorant.

Answer 2

Good, for a number of different reasons. #1 - It's cheap. Those who say it's wasteful generally don't have clue how much it costs. Americans spend more on Chapstick each year than on the space program. #2 - Unpredictable Benefits. When the Hubble telescope first went up, it had a faulty mirror. The images that came back were blurry. In order to do meaningful science, researchers had to develop techniques to find data in the blurry shots. Those same algorithms are now used across America in MRI and CT scans to detect cancer. #3 - Security. Rocket guidance technology developed for interplanetary travel is very precise. Reaching Mars from here requires firing your engines at an exact time in an exact direction for an exact duration. Variants of this technology find their way into cruise missiles, UAVs, and other weapons -- making our military more accurate and reducing collateral damage. #4 - Economy. A major reason the US is a telecommunications giant is because early research in rocket technology allowed us to put up telecom satellites cheaply (relative to other nations). What future industries could we also be giants in if we keep developing the technology now? #5 - Purpose. The need to explore is a fundamentally human trait. What do you do when you first move somewhere? You look around the apartment. Then you take a walk around the block. Then you take a drive around the neighborhood... Exploration is what we do, and the ability of a human to stand in a place where no one has stood before is inspirational. A human, not a robot... There were robots sent to the Moon before Neil Armstrong -- are any buildings named after them?

Answer 3

"do you think we should put our money into space exploration?"

Yes, as well as building up our capabilities in space to use space resources, and find out how to live and get around better.

I'm willing to debate for the point that the big problems facing us as a species and a civilization could be eased or eliminated by us becoming a space-faring civilization. Heinlein said "It's raining soup -we should build buckets". Bucky fuller said that you can make a comparison as if the Earth were a car's battery, while the solar system was the engine... We've been going about our business by running the battery down, never thinking to start the engine.
It's been called the greatest step a species has taken since the evolution of the lung.
No new inventions needed to start. Nothing as groundbreaking as what the Wright brothers did, but more like the Ryan company design of the "Spirit of St. Louis" or better yet, we need a space-age DC-3 (the first plane to make passenger carrying a paying proposition).
And before you start about comparing money and budgets, look up the facts.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/

The '08 NASA budget is around 1/6 of 1% of the federal budget -around $16 billion. Americans spend as much/more on each: fast foods, illegal drugs, sports gambling, and lotteries as we spend on space.
At the height of Apollo spending, NASA got maybe 3% of the budget. We spent around $65 billion on Apollo, from '61 to '72. In the 8 years between the start of the Moon program until Apollo 11 landed in '69, Americans spent as much on cosmetics, and New Yorkers spent more on liquor.

I shouldn't even bother comparing the military. This year, the defense budget will be around $480 billion, plus over a hundred billion for the war. I don't know how much we spend on SUVs which will mostly be used for one person, in the city.

If we're going to spend so much fighting for our right to depend on foreign oil and fighting a method of warfare ("the war on tError"), we should be looking around the universe and start to prepare to enter it.

Answer 4

The next time you use polarized sun glasses, sleep on a memory-foam bed, or use a reflective space-blanket, thank space exploration.

We use hundreds of technologies in our lives all the time that are a direct result of space exploration.

We all benefit from it because the discoveries scientists make in building rockets and getting people up into orbit advances technology and pushes the limits. These new technologies trickle down into the market place.

Answer 5

Space exploration-good. Space Colonization-Better.

All of our human "Eggs" are in one basket (as far as we know). One catastrophe away from extinction.

All of our problems could be solved by things we discover. There is a lot of gas/fuel out there. And diamonds the size of your head. Gold, aluminum, etc.

Answer 6

I think there are a lot of other things that money could be used for that would do a lot more good. Dont get me started I would still be typing the same time tomorrow.