Is Space Exploration Worth the Money?

Every penny of it.

maybe but not as for it with our problems here in the USA some things just seem more important.  I am not against space exploration just do not think it should be at the top of the list of importance.

Is space exploration worth the money? What a question this is. The truest answer, from the posts I've read so far would be, Who's Money? It's long been realized that there are things that we cannot build, investigate, or even discover while we're stuck here on the surface of the Earth. Who is to say what wonderous things may be discovered in space? Should all of this go to some foreign government, simply because they were willing to spend the money? Or to some small investor, simply because they saw the potential? I believe that space exploration is, and has always been worth the money. Humankind was designed to explore new things, and discover new things. If we do not, we stagnate, and that would be disastrous. It is the unknown that scares us, and drives us, all at the same time. Just as we cannot NOT explore the bottom of the ocean, I believe that we cannot NOT explore space. We have discovered how to go there, not to do so would be criminal.

No, there are far more important issues here on Earth.

right now it isn't because we have huge deficits and fighting a war.

Not at the moment, there are so many other things to worry about. I have no objections to space exploration once debts are paid off. It is foolish for a country to spend so much money on space when they're are in such debt.

My gosh, people! Our future is in space! Earth is starting to get crowded, and until artificial continents, underwater structures and floating cities come along (and they will SOON!), space is our future! I am a passionate supporter of all space programs (from NASA to the Soviets to the little-known European Space Agency!) and wish the government would give them unlimted funding. Planets should be explored with vehicles--both unmanned and manned (!!). And, of course, bases should be made in space and on the moon. Sure, a tragic disaster like Columbia or Apollo 1 is saddening, but the space program must be like the legendary phoenix and rise from the ashes. Think of all the benefits that could come from space: cures to diseases that couldn't be grown here, a perfect envrionment for unlimited food growth (and, thus, a solution to world hunger), and of course, gigaquads of data for the taking! Space is the final frontier and it is up to be there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

No. Not as it currently stands. With the economic status of the country flagging, I don't think its practical to spend billions on equipment/research with no real gain except bragging rights. (My husband would disown me for that sentence alone, lol.) Of all the questions and problems that need answers, this has the least impact on US citizens in a real sense. I believe scientific research is important, don't get me wrong. But, billions of dollars could honestly benefit cancer research, HIV research, education, healthcare/medicare, and veteran affairs with a much more real result to the citizens. As for the privatization of it all, I think turning space exploration over to the private sector is the only way to decrease the ridiculous spending overages. However, I'm wondering, what would be the product? What would the private sector gain from spending millions, if not billions, on sending equipment that would be irredeemable after one use into space? Who would pay for that? Wh... Read more

To quote from the movie Apollo 13, Imagine if Christopher Columbus returned from the New World and nobody followed in his footsteps. Also keep in mind that the greatest scientific discoveries in history have happened during general research(no profit expected) and not during applied research(for profit).

The prospect of continuing to explore space is a worthwhile one. The government though needs to give up its monopoly on space exploration. The reason why we're not moving forward on this issue is because the government controls all access into outer space. I don't believe that we should completely stop exploring outer space; it too simplistic to say that the only thing we've gotten out of space exploration is moon rocks. Satellite technology has given us everything from cable television to global positioning data. To give up on this would be a travesty. However NASA isn't cutting it anymore. The private sector is light years ahead in R&D; that the government agency is. Meanwhile the space shuttle is operating on 30 year old technology. NASA has no new proposals; essentially it is a relic of the Cold War when we were racing the Soviets to the Moon. The bureaucracy has become largely entrenched and self-impressed with it's own accomplishments. The private sector will do a much better job... Read more

I'm very interested in space exploration, but I don't believe that it is the role of the federal government to use tax dollars to explore the wonders of the universe. I believe that NASA should be gradually privatized, because human entrepreneurship in the field of science should come from the private sector, not from the government. Getting rid of NASA would save taxpayers $15 billion dollars each year, and allowing private businesses to embark upon space exploration would probably create more jobs in the private sector.

Yes, because we need to learn more about the universe. also, space exploration will be vital in the future when our earth gets overcrowded and we may have to colonize other worlds. we cannot discontinue space exploration beecause of rare accidents like the columbia disaster. that would be like discontinuing cars and air travel because of car and plane crashed which are more numerous the space disasters.

No, it is a waste of money. There's not much going on in the universe. We put a man on the moon and we didnt find any little green moon-men did we? No, all we found was moon-rocks.

It's a noble endeavor and a testament to humanity's curiousities and abilities. Now privatize it.

Hell yes. We are learning where we came from, how we even came to be, what will happen in the future, and learning about diseases.

Probably not, but hey, it creates a few jobs, right?

Space exploration is interesting to me, but it's not the province of the government to pay for it. If oil is discovered on the Moon or Mars, then private industry will GLADLY pay for further space ventures. Even as it stands now, private concerns should have to pay 100% for launching their numerous satellites, and WOULD pay if they gov didn't launch for them. The space program was started for political reasons to start with; the Soviets, using government money (Communists have no other kind), started the race and we finished it just to show them up. We did that in spectacular fashion, but the time is long past for private industry to take over the program.

I agree with PBeavr's feelings on the emphasis on safety. The space program has helped us research things that we couldn't have done on earth (the difference in gravity being a factor), and it's just pretty cool to see images of what's out there beyond our atmosphere. Plus, considering a huge asteriod was found and was headed in our direction (luckily it'll miss, according to calculations) recently, it's kind of good to have someone else monitoring the sky for any other big rocks that might bring about a really bad day.