You don't have to look far to see the benefits of the Apollo program and the original space race. The investment in the space program reaches practically every area of our life.
Wouldn't it be better to push an extra few $B into the space program -- do BOTH hubble and manned missions over time than squander money promoting a future Shiite theocracy in Iraq?
I am embarrassed by how readily we'll spend 80-100 $B per year installing a future regime, while the umbrella of space exploration to advance science, technology and human knowledge is kept at a much, much lower level ($14B per year NASA, approximately,I believe).
At these rates, in today's world, with today's safety objectives, we'll never make it to orbit again (post shuttle), let alone the moon, mars, or anything else.
Why will it take longer to get to the moon this time than in the 60s? The US and its allies should step up investment and collaboration in these areas to at least 2-3 times current levels.
As others mention, there will be many collateral benefits to the technology and science related to all of these endeavors (even a robotic mision to repair hubble). If Martian rocks don't interest someone, the hundreds of support technologies required to safely reach Mars with a crew, extract, transport the crew home, etc. surely will.
I actually liked GWB's message on the space program, just not the budget, which doesn't match and shows his real priorities are elsewhere.
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You don't have to look far to see the benefits of the Apollo program and the original space race. The investment in the space program reaches practically every area of our life. Wouldn't it be better to push an extra few $B into the space program -- do BOTH hubble and manned missions over time than squander money promoting a future Shiite theocracy in Iraq? I am embarrassed by how readily we'll spend 80-100 $B per year installing a future regime, while the umbrella of space exploration to advance science, technology and human knowledge is kept at a much, much lower level ($14B per year NASA, approximately,I believe). At these rates, in today's world, with today's safety objectives, we'll never make it to orbit again (post shuttle), let alone the moon, mars, or anything else. Why will it take longer to get to the moon this time than in the 60s? The US and its allies should step up investment and collaboration in these areas to at least 2-3 times current levels. As others mention, there will be many collateral benefits to the technology and science related to all of these endeavors (even a robotic mision to repair hubble). If Martian rocks don't interest someone, the hundreds of support technologies required to safely reach Mars with a crew, extract, transport the crew home, etc. surely will. I actually liked GWB's message on the space program, just not the budget, which doesn't match and shows his real priorities are elsewhere.