Science may well give us good things. We all know Velcro came from NASA. But why bother spending all this money exploring space and finding out there was water on Mars at some point in the last few thousand years (we have water in Earth) when these same great minds could be applied to finding better ways to power humanity’s insatiable desire for energy, to feeding the starving millions around the globe, and generally making life down here better before looking up into the heavens.
It seems the authoritative powers have their heads way, way up in the clouds. For example: there was one space program that did send human beings into space ended up costing American taxpayers $150 billion, almost 8 times the initial cost estimate of $20 billion. By contrast, the things we learned from these missions, while fascinating, are hardly beneficial to humans. Most pertain to the composition and history of the moon. While this settled many scientific debates, there are more tangible uses to which such money could be put.
For example, the National Cancer Institute spends about $5 billion a year on various cancer researches. The funding for the Apollo program could have funded 30 years’ worth of research into cancer, possibly leading to a better understanding and improved treatments for the suffering of millions of human beings. Additionally, at least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day. To justify such outrageous expenditures on space exploration for the benefit of future populations, when millions are suffering now, is inconsistent at best and callous at worst.
The needs of humanity should always come first. While there are people on Earth who need help, they should be helped, rather than seeing money spent on sending robots onto other planets. Humanity is the number one priority; keeping the human race alive is a necessity. Alternatively, space exploration is a desire. If we put our desires before our needs, then everyone loses out on a better standard of living.
Sure, it’s great that NASA can elevate technology to the next level time and time again, so why not make technology that directly benefits us? And as there are millions round the world who are starving to death, when people spend more and more money on space technology they should realize they are the killers. Also, why take so much time and money to learn about Mars or any other planet, when we know so little about our own? We should learn more about Earth and the ocean before wasting time and money on Space exploration.
