What Is Your Opinion On Governments Investing In Space Exploration?

[Raidergal2022]

I am very interested in space exploration and am all for governments investing in it however part of me is forced to agree when people say that money should not be spent on this when people are living in poverty.

There is a woman on Facebook who often comments on posts about space by saying ‘while people starve’

What is your opinion on this?

[ToraToraTora]

Space exploration has historically returned many times what it cost so great, do loads of it.

[JimF]

Space exploration is necessary for the long-term (in astronomical terms) survival of the human race, as we will eventually need to find somewhere to live. But that's a few billions of years away yet.

However, what is far more pressing is the development of technology to prevent another collision with an asteroid of the one which hit Mexico 65 million years ago. And such a collision is seriously overdue...

[Gromit]

Money spent on space exploration is a very small % of our nation wealth.
And the pursuit of knowledge enhances the whole human race.
I am not sure if money was diverted away from exploration to something else, that a single mouth would be better fed.

[ToraToraTora]

https://www.nasa.gov/specials/value-of-nasa/
....using data from the 2021 fiscal year. The report estimates NASA efforts during that period: Generated more than $71.2 billion in total economic output, Supported more than 339,600 jobs nationwide,
Resulted in an estimated $7.7 billion in federal, state, and local tax revenues. In order ti support "poverty" the west needs income, space exploration is a useful source of that.

[ToraToraTora]

jimf 19:51, it's ok Bruce Willis is on stand by!

[gulliver1]

It's just a waste of space ... and waste of money. OK

[Old_Geezer]

It has never been an either/or issue.

In addition there may always be poor, especially if the definition keeps changing, so no point being held back trying for the impossible.

Thise who try to prevent advancement using such false choices as excuse, need to get a dose of reality into their lives.

[Bazile]

Well we need to discover where is the Paxon's home world .

[Hopkirk]

Don't forget that any money spent isn't spent in space. It is spent in the country, and trickles down through the economy. Those scientists have to eat somewhere.

[fender62]

do we really have a choice, after we have mined out all the minerals and oil, polluted the rivers lakes and seas, over populated the planet to the point where it cannot sustain the mass, in either food or water. space is the only exit left, if another habitable world as found, it to in time would be destroyed, there's always the startrek view where the human race works together to better ourselves and not the few, in a nutshell we save our world.

[Peter Pedant]

Space exploration has historically returned many times what it cost so great, do loads of it.

so profitable in fact, that there was a fifty year gap in putting men on the moon.

[barry1010]

The thought of humans destroying another planet is depressing. It would possibly be better if in a single minute every single person on earth simply dropped dead, painlessly, without panic, without knowledge.

[Raidergal2022]

^ The only thing I’d have against that is that all the pets in cages etc would starve

[barry1010]

Think how many species would not be extinct without the dubious benefit of meeting mankind.
Nature causes the extinction of species, too, she doesn't need us to help

[ToraToraTora]

PP:"Space exploration has historically returned many times what it cost so great, do loads of it.

so profitable in fact, that there was a fifty year gap in putting men on the moon. " - genius! Of course all space exploration ceased then didn't it, Foo, hang on.....did it? did it really peter?

[ToraToraTora]

barry: "The thought of humans destroying another planet is depressing. " - Yeah Venus is next.....hang on!

[barry1010]

I am always very cheery when I'm still awake at 2am, as you can tell

[Old_Geezer]

It doesn't need to be 2am for me to be that cheery. I can manage it 24 hours a day !

[Zacs-Master]

'It would possibly be better if in a single minute every single person on earth simply dropped dead, painlessly, without panic, without knowledge'

Keep taking the vaccine and, according to some, that will happen.