why does nasa spend billons of dollars exploring space?
i’ve always wondered why nasa and other goverment funded space agencies waste billions of dollars exploring space? i mean i get the whole sSatellitething but why do we need the ISS(international space station, not in-school suspension) wow we get to see the effects of micro/zero-gravity on plants…whoop de do!! And the, “oh no! the worlds population is getting larger, that means no more 3 course meals and 40 acre backyards! GO TO MARS!!!!!!!” who cares jeez, look 74% of earth is water…why not live underwater? i mean it makes sense. it doesn’t cost a whole lot to sink a giant ppieceof steal under water run a pump… and ok well maybe it will cost a lot but if we spent billions of dollars left the us wouldn’t be in a financial crises, we could spend it reasearching better ideas like natural organic plants that grow faster to feed the hungry. or research smarter fuels like hydrogen technology instead of gas.
i know this seems like a retorical question, but if you don’t see the logic of this reasoning then please explain yours.
March 8th, 2010 at 7:49 pm
If you need to ask that question then wouldn’t understand the answer.
March 8th, 2010 at 7:54 pm
NASA spends the money basically because it would be illegal not to spend it. Congress passes the budget, ask them why they do the things they do.
March 8th, 2010 at 8:39 pm
The vast majority of major inventions and forward moves in medical sciences have been helped in one way or another by the space program. To push science to a limit where you can travel to another planet or leave the solar system, involves huge leaps in technology, and you benefit from those every day
March 8th, 2010 at 9:18 pm
Its mainly to figure out a lot of new scientific discoveries. Some disease have been found to not grow in space. If we can figure out why then we can help cure many diseases.
That is one of the many reasons to fund NASA.
March 8th, 2010 at 9:38 pm
The answer is simple. If NASA did not spend the money
the stupid government would waste it by bailing out
private corporations. Then the corporations, after using
our tax money can charge us 30 or even 50 grand for a
new car. That way the UAW workers on the assembly
line can still make their six figure salaries.
March 8th, 2010 at 10:09 pm
Several reasons, but most obvious: we don’t know what’s in space, and because it’s so different than earth, knowing might be necessary to understanding nature. Case in point: it was astronomical observations - specifically, of the orbits of planets - that led Newton to developing his laws of physics, laws which form the cornerstone of modern engineering.
Unless you have a compelling case against *all* publicly-funded research (fun fact: computers and the Internet both came out of publicly-funded work), space research well-deserves the funding it receives.
March 8th, 2010 at 10:57 pm
Instead of asking why NASA spends so much money on space exploration…ask this. Why do we spend so much more on developing and making weapons that we hope we’ll never have to use?
How have India managed to successfully send a satellite to orbit the moon for a fraction of the costs that NASA would need? Is it by cooperation and sharing resources? I
March 8th, 2010 at 11:34 pm
Pretty much every major discovery we have made so far was helped in some part by NASA.
Do you like using a personal computer? Thank NASA.
Like Velcro? Thank NASA.
Kidney dialysis to help those with kidney failure? Thank NASA.
CAT scan and MRIs? Thank NASA.
Cordless power tools? Thank NASA.
Not only has NASA’s spending a lot of money helped your life become easier, it has saved countless lives.
March 8th, 2010 at 11:38 pm
Because we have become disappointed with trying to find intelligent life on planet earth.
And one day, who knows, we may have to mine the other planets for resources.
March 9th, 2010 at 12:14 am
NASA’s budget amounts to about six-tenths of one percent of the total federal budget. All of the money they spend is spent right here on Earth, employing tens of thousands of people, who would otherwise be idle. For every dollar we spend on space research, we realize about SEVEN dollars worth of economic benefit. Show me a better investment.
If you want to talk about waste, we’ll have to discuss the military budget. NASA has never wasted a dime.