Do you think the United States should spend money on space exploration?

[smithjcsdfw]

Do you think the United States should spend money on space exploration and if so where?

[egypt31]

Do you mean more than the trillions of dollars they've already spent on space exploration, should they continue to pour money into it?          Possibly it seems to me that all civilizations have studied space to some degree or another!!!!        I don't know if they we should spend as much as we do on it ...especially with the economy in the disaster it is in.

[kapeh12]

I'm 100% in favor of continued space exploration.  Most people only think about the space station, space shuttle, landing on the moon was "cool", etc - and think it's interesting, but useless - a waste of money.  But if one stops to think about all the challenges it takes to fly a person into outer space, one would realize how much of our modern technology we owe to all the research done to support the space program.  From things like food preservation techniques, ball point pens, velcro, to sturdy light-weight plastics used everywhere around us, propulsion techniques, communications technologies, etc.  Even things like high powered medical instruments use crystals grown on the space station as crystals grow perfectly in zero gravity (no gravity to pull the structure out of alignment).

One goal is to land humans on Mars, which I think would be awesome, but there are huge obstacles to figure out before that's possible.  The big ones are growing sustainable food for the journey (as there would be no way to store that much food for a manned mission) - that type of research would greatly benefit anyone on Earth.  The second even bigger obstacle is the bone loss issue - people lose bone density quickly in zero-G.  It's estimated after a year in space, an astronaut's bones would be so brittle, they could be easily broken during the stresses of re-entry.  The space program developed exercise bands to help - which they did measure the strength training with resistance bands slowed down the bone loss, but didn't stop it.  Yes, those same resistance bands you see everywhere now came from the space program.  Just think what solving this issue would be to all those suffering from osteoporosis?

Space exploration provides challenges and goals for innovative scientists to find solutions for - and most of those solutions will have practical application to the general public here on Earth.

[sigmapi1501]

No. Just because damn near half the country believes the Earth is 6,000 years old.  All of the scientific proof won't change their mind.   They have "museums" of humans riding dinosaurs in Kentucky. (seriously)

We don't deserve the knowledge available in outer space. Our people are hopelessly and willingly ignorant.

[brum7814]

Yeah, we need to establish a way to travel through the inner solar system at the very least.  It's not just a matter of gaining scientific knowledge or religion.  Exploration is what the human race has been all about since recorded history. The real concern is if we can't at least start preparing to find a better way to locate and remove threats from objects that could impact Earth, it won't matter who's right or wrong about religion and science.  That's just a personal take though, no real evidence to back anything up.  =-P

[jenniferhoder]

I don't think it would be a foolish thing to spend money on... I mean, come on, we spend tons of money on other things!!!!

[BJohnsonPP]

Well, kapeh12 already broke down what I was going to say but said it much better and in more detail. We've gained so much from our space program than just finding out what's happening on those big orbs in the sky. The technology created to get us out there has led to so many things we use in our everyday lives.

I do however see nothing wrong with at the very least discussing cuts or temporary suspension of programs during times like these just to divert the money elsewhere. Again, nothing would be permanent and the program being shut down should never be considered. Certain triggers would lead to this and certain triggers would lead to the program being turned back on. I don't know the actual budget for our space program so I don't know if this would even make a dent in anything we divert the money to.

Also, our scientists are our best and brightest. If they're forced to sit on their hands while the government gets its $&%t together, maybe they'll swoop in and save the day with a plan that works so they get back to doing what they do best.

[Gerianne]

I think it is a waste of money; always has been.
Even when the first astronaut(s) went to the moon in the 60's.
We know the moon is out there; outer space is out there.
We have wasted so much money over the last 40+ years.
Money spent on space exploration and war is useless.

[BJohnsonPP]

I think it is a waste of money; always has been.
Even when the first astronaut(s) went to the moon in the 60's.
We know the moon is out there; outer space is out there.
We have wasted so much money over the last 40+ years.
Money spent on space exploration and war is useless.

You clearly have no understanding of what the space program is for and what has come from it. Reading about it, or just reading through the comments in here before posting would've saved you some embarrassment.

I'm 100% in favor of continued space exploration.  Most people only think about the space station, space shuttle, landing on the moon was "cool", etc - and think it's interesting, but useless - a waste of money.  But if one stops to think about all the challenges it takes to fly a person into outer space, one would realize how much of our modern technology we owe to all the research done to support the space program.  From things like food preservation techniques, ball point pens, velcro, to sturdy light-weight plastics used everywhere around us, propulsion techniques, communications technologies, etc.  Even things like high powered medical instruments use crystals grown on the space station as crystals grow perfectly in zero gravity (no gravity to pull the structure out of alignment).

That should be enough to get the point but read on...

One goal is to land humans on Mars, which I think would be awesome, but there are huge obstacles to figure out before that's possible.  The big ones are growing sustainable food for the journey (as there would be no way to store that much food for a manned mission) - that type of research would greatly benefit anyone on Earth.  The second even bigger obstacle is the bone loss issue - people lose bone density quickly in zero-G.  It's estimated after a year in space, an astronaut's bones would be so brittle, they could be easily broken during the stresses of re-entry.  The space program developed exercise bands to help - which they did measure the strength training with resistance bands slowed down the bone loss, but didn't stop it.  Yes, those same resistance bands you see everywhere now came from the space program.  Just think what solving this issue would be to all those suffering from osteoporosis?

Space exploration provides challenges and goals for innovative scientists to find solutions for - and most of those solutions will have practical application to the general public here on Earth.

[bretay]

No we have more things here in the us that the money could be spent on.Things that would be more beneficial to everyone.

[yosav]

Do you think the United States should spend money on space exploration and if so where?

i think they should, all the advance technology, the inter net that were on now is due to space exploration 

[patycake56]

no i think its a foolish waste of money

[dreamyxo]

Hell no we need to fix the problems here on earth first. 

[monnee]

With trillions in debt and millions of people out of work, of course NO!

[darrell1960]

yes and do it in conjunction with other countries like usa/russia with curiosity