Okay, at this point in time, basic research. (eg: the moon's history and detailed physical and chemical composition). Sadly, you can never directly defend basic research. It has no immediate goal or payoff beyond knowledge. Although it does have a tendancy to prove useful in the future. (eg: we now know that there's Helium-3 in the lunar soil. Should we get fusion power generation, this will prove immensely useful)
Interestingly, just getting people into space pushes some applied science also. (look at velcro and some 'space age composites')
Regarding 2: The shuttle is only partially reusable. The external tank is thrown away with each launch, and the orbiter is virtually rebuilt between missions.
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Okay, at this point in time, basic research. (eg: the moon's history and detailed physical and chemical composition). Sadly, you can never directly defend basic research. It has no immediate goal or payoff beyond knowledge. Although it does have a tendancy to prove useful in the future. (eg: we now know that there's Helium-3 in the lunar soil. Should we get fusion power generation, this will prove immensely useful) Interestingly, just getting people into space pushes some applied science also. (look at velcro and some 'space age composites')
In one word: Research
Regarding 2: The shuttle is only partially reusable. The external tank is thrown away with each launch, and the orbiter is virtually rebuilt between missions.