[Jack_Crossitt]

Originally posted by messierhunter

We need to know a LOT more about what's out there. It could lead to breakthroughs in new forms of energy production, the spinoffs of technology designed for spacetravel has given us huge health and living benefits on earth. Pace makers, tennis shoes, personal computers, radiation hazard detectors, emergency rescue equipment, self-righting life rafts, safer mammography x-rays, all are things that are either made possible by, or enhanced by space technology spinoffs. Without space travel you wouldn't have these things. Early hurricane detection, warning, and tracking? Forget about it, without funding space programs your accuracy in tracking storms will falter. We cannot afford to stop funding the space program, it's only a tiny part of the budget and the benefits are priceless because they save human lives.

I can only agree with the positives you have mentioned, but we need to look at what is happening in our own world first and every pound/dollar thrown into space is a pound/dollar less spent on more pressing priorities and personally I feel it is a waste of money. Every dollar that George Bush and his predecessors have spent on space has been very useful indeed and I couldn't agree more, that they need to continue spending some amount, but the amount should be halved, as we have come to a point now where we seem to be wasting billions of dollars.

If $7 billion was enough and there was $8 billion spare, then they would find something to spend that amount on. Pointless ventures in space which are just not needed. We have really learnt enough and a smaller budget would give us what we require, but a bigger one is a waste of money and from what I read, George Bush wants to increase that amount