How does space science help?

[Neopeius]

I have seen this question posed on this and other fora time and time again: What good does what we learn in space do for us down here?

Forget spinoffs. They assume you'd get more return for your money if you "dedicated" your research, forgetting the actual definition of serendipity.

They want to know what spending a billion dollars on a probe to Saturn does for humanity that's more worthy than a billion dollars in welfare or child education.

What are the a concrete examples of where the study of things beyond our planet have directly aided us down on Earth?

 

[Non Sync]

As a species, we are curious. We want to know what is on the other side of the ridge. How does this work. If we stop asking the questions, we become stagnet and complacant.

The amount that we spend on space science is a drop in the bucket compared to what we're already spending on welfare and education. For 2006, the US government spent $1,198.2 billion dollars on education and welfare but NASA spent only $15.1 billion. And that money ultimately was paid to individuals or companies which in turn was spent on the general economy.

Sometimes in the quest to solve one problem, you end up with an unexpected solution to another problem that you weren't looking for.

 

[JNG]

Forget spinoffs. They assume you'd get more return for your money if you "dedicated" your research, forgetting the actual definition of serendipity.

This stacks the deck. History doesn't make this seem like a very fair assumption to make.

 

[Neopeius]

Forget spinoffs. They assume you'd get more return for your money if you "dedicated" your research, forgetting the actual definition of serendipity.

This stacks the deck.

Of course it does. It's a dumb assertion to make.

Space science can be justified with as simple a premise as basic research--who knows what Voyager may discover outside the heliosheath that might revolutionize our knowledge of the sun?

But I'm just wondering if there's anything that's yielded tangible results already. For instance, investigation of the Venusian atmosphere leading to better climate modeling on Earth or study of Europan geology illuminating terrestrial features.

Or something. Anything to get the morons to shut up.

 

[Shaw]

What are the a concrete examples of where the study of things beyond our planet have directly aided us down on Earth?

I pose a counter question for you... what would your life be like if we removed all technology design to operate above a few thousand feet?

Science isn't a balance sheet endeavor. You can't say next Tuesday we will have innovation. It doesn't work like that.

I went to school for pure mathematics, and most of my research was in pure mathematics. People constantly ask me what I was working on was for. They expected an answer as to how it was to be used. And I told them I have no idea, I do pure mathematics... it is up to people who do applied mathematics to figure that out.

So here is the thing, if pure mathematicians didn't keep developing new mathematics, then that mathematics wouldn't exist when applied mathematicians need it to solve some problem with it.

Some of the greatest math discoveries occurred decades or centuries before they had an actual application. Riemann was doing pure math back in the 1850s, and was long dead by the time that his work became very relevant in the 1910s.

We are less than 50 years into our exploration of space and it touches your daily life constantly. TV, phones, weather reporting... imagine them without technology existing above a few thousand feet.

Bean counters would kill the future... mainly because they forget where their current way of life came from.

 

[spoonunseptium]

Because of space research, we now have the possibility of putting solar panels on the moon and harvesting energy for...duh nuh nuh!...earth. It'd take a few more steps, but we're closer to something like that.

Because of space research, NASA has been required to come up with new materials and ideas so that rockets and buggies and all that can run without exploding-- these discoveris have trickled down into the public, such as in materials for hospitals. I can't think of a specific example, but I remember reading on the NASA website how some instrument was put into hospitals because of NASA's developement.

Plus, people have always done this. Aborigionies, Native Americans, the Portugese - what do you think all these people were doing when they went off to new lands? Some were looking for a new place to live, some were looking for profit-- but I can garantee you that someone also just wanted to see what was over the horizon.

Now we're seeing what's above the horizon - why stop?

It may just be a whole load of romanticism, but I would tread lightly when saying space programs are wasting money.

 

[JustAFriend]

More basic: Without the weather sats looking back down, the death toll from hurricanes and bad weather would be a hundred or thousand times worse than it is now.

Without com sats your internet and long-distance phone calls would be 10-50 times more expensive, if at all possible (go back and watch the really old movies where someone would call an operator to make a call across the country, then hang up and wait for them to call them back with a connection LATER IN THE DAY.)

 

[Neopeius]

More basic: Without the weather sats looking back down, the death toll from hurricanes and bad weather would be a hundred or thousand times worse than it is now.

Without com sats your internet and long-distance phone calls would be 10-50 times more expensive, if at all possible (go back and watch the really old movies where someone would call an operator to make a call across the country, then hang up and wait for them to call them back with a connection LATER IN THE DAY.)

But see, you say that and they counter: "Well, satellites are okay. But deep space missions are worthless. What did the billion dollar Cassini ever to for me?"

So my question is, aside from spinoffs and "basic research", what has Cassini, or Viking, or Pioneers 0-13 done for the common man?

 

[Maurice]

I object to this question entirely on the grounds that the government spends tons of money on things that don't help the common man, but for some reason people always look at science like it has to have tangible results.

 

[Forbin]

I wish I had an elloquent answer for those poor unimaginative folk who are against space science. My ability to compose such is poor. But when I see some the stunningly beautiful photos coming back from Cassini, I simply know it's all worth it.

 

[Forbin]

I object to this question entirely on the grounds that the government spends tons of money on things that don't help the common man, but for some reason people always look at science like it has to have tangible results.

That's a damn good point.
Many of my liberal friends want to see NASA's money all go for social programs, but if I dare suggest taking money from federal arts programs, they scream bloody murder.

 

[Dusty Ayres]

I object to this question entirely on the grounds that the government spends tons of money on things that don't help the common man, but for some reason people always look at science like it has to have tangible results.

That's a damn good point.
Many of my liberal friends want to see NASA's money all go for social programs, but if I dare suggest taking money from federal arts programs, they scream bloody murder.

And they have a good right to, as most arts programs are a part of the psychological, and emotional health of a nation. They are just as necessary as NASA. Cut them, and all that you end up with is shit like American Idol dominating the cultural discourse of a nation. That doesn't mean that what NASA does should be cut to ribbons, but it also does not mean that federal arts programs should be thrown to the wolves either. Both are important.

As for your friends: I'm a liberal, and I think that they are full of shit for what they say about NASA.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

I have seen this question posed on this and other fora time and time again: What good does what we learn in space do for us down here?

The more you learn about space, the easier it will be to do stuff in space. Sooner or later we will be doing stuff in space, just as a matter of historical inevitability, because the trend in history is that humans have found ways to do stuff pretty much everywhere there is stuff to be done.

It needs to be understood that in all likelihood, human beings will NOT be counting on the assistance of intelligence benevolent aliens to teach us how to live and work in space. The knowledge, expertise and experience to build civilization beyond our atmosphere will have to develop through trial and error exploration; it isn't going to drop out of the sky fully formed in pre-digested capsules for PhDs to break down and translate into a handbook.

In short, space science helps us down here by building on the knowledge of how we can make a living up there. It's the same reason you pay attention in high school science classes since, even though you can't conceive of how any of this could possibly be relevant to your every day life, somewhere down the line it just might lead you to a pretty high paying job. Of course, it'll all be for nothing if humanity keeps getting C-minuses in Space Development 101...

 

[Crazy Eddie]

More basic: Without the weather sats looking back down, the death toll from hurricanes and bad weather would be a hundred or thousand times worse than it is now.

Without com sats your internet and long-distance phone calls would be 10-50 times more expensive, if at all possible (go back and watch the really old movies where someone would call an operator to make a call across the country, then hang up and wait for them to call them back with a connection LATER IN THE DAY.)

But see, you say that and they counter: "Well, satellites are okay. But deep space missions are worthless. What did the billion dollar Cassini ever to for me?"

Shifting the goalposts, eh? Space science is space science, deep or shallow. Satellite communication and weather satellites are a result of space science, like it or not. The fact that FURTHER space science hasn't paid off in the short term yet doesn't make your question any less answered.

51 years since Sputnik orbited the Earth, space technology has now provided massive benefits to mankind. If 40 to 60 years is too long a time to wait for the benefits of trans-Jupiter exploration, you'd be better off joining NASA to try and get them to speed up the process, because the money's already been spent, it's already BEING spent, and the only way you're going to be satisfied is to make it pay off faster.

So my question is, aside from spinoffs and "basic research", what has Cassini, or Viking, or Pioneers 0-13 done for the common man?

Ask me again in 2067.

 

[LunarYoma]

Space rearch has very little short term gain & is mostly long term gains.(from what I have observed). Want to free up money for social/medical/education/whatever? The US gov. Needs to stop the stupid 'war on drugs' spending which is a complete waste

 

[Dusty Ayres]

Space rearch has very little short term gain & is mostly long term gains.(from what I have observed). Want to free up money for social/medical/education/whatever? The US gov. Needs to stop the stupid 'war on drugs' spending which is a complete waste

Hear, hear.

 

[Herald]

Let's try a hypothetical situation. Suppose mankind in general gives up space exploration entirely. What happens when a near Earth asteroid decides to pay a visit? With a ground based telescope, at best you might get a few months warning to prepare.

What do you do then? Conjure up a space program from scratch?

Having a working space program would at least increase our options. Especially if we were continually in space improving and learning how to do things there.

 

[Maurice]

I heard a tangible but not obvious example of how space science helps people on Earth on NPR the other day. Apparently, some of the technology developed for correcting the spherical abberration of the Hubble has been repurposed for cancer detection. That's just one example that's not entirely obvious on the surface.
http://www.nctn.hq.nasa.gov/innovation/Innovation41/HubbleFights.html

 

[Brent]

Just google NASA Spinoffs, seriously.

The technologies developed for space research have had real-world benefits right here on Earth, a lot of it gets integrated and no one even knows where its research started. Kidney dialysis, CAT scanners, even cordless power tools, yep.

I don't think you realize how much technology we use in our lives today has come from space research. It has certainly been positive in our lives from the spinoffs alone.

 

[Meredith]

If we spent all the money that was spent on the war on drugs on space exploration, not only would half the population feel as if they were on the moon, but we would have a number of folk who were actually ON the moon.