Unemployment, and so on

[kandrathe]

I've seen some crazy things posted here, but wow.

Don't get me wrong. I like science, and I'm a huge fan of spreading the human race beyond the Earth. But... in the context of unemployment, suffering and starvation, what has the Apollo program done for the impoverished of Appalachia? Better tires? Watch NASCAR on a flat screen at the bar in Bugswallow?

From 1962 to 1972, when the last Apollo mission landed on the moon, space-related activities got 59% of non-defense government R&D spending. Arguably, certain technologies were advanced quicker, like integrated circuitry -- but, we'd have gotten there with or without NASA's portion of the demand.

What if... We'd spent just half that money on developing a better energy supply? Would we have saved the Earth from a decade or more of man-made climate change?

I'm just trying to be objective about it. It was a huge us versus them nationalistic pissing contest aiming at the Moon. What we got out of it was the advancement in technologies needed in getting there. So, let's just set ourselves some crazy goals -- how about we challenge China to see who will be the first to put boots on Uranus?