Why Space in general

Sigh.

Don't know from whom the quote is but it's true

"Stagnation is regression".

All civilizations in the past the just administered their achievements died. Death without progress.

You can see this process already today. The next mobile ring tone is more important than achieving anything. I think without significant progress in space this civilization won't last another 500 years.

1. USA
2. Russia
3. Europe (Ok, more than one country technically)
4. Japan
5. China
6. India
7. Pakistan (? - havent they just tested something than can make it into space?)

Those are countries. +1 point to xiphius for subtlety ;)

We need space so we can waste as much of the tax payers money as we can. Why should we waste money on earth trying to help feed starving families, and put homeless kids in good homes. Why should we worry about the problems on earth when we can transport them to some other planet and drop them off there. we can't even take care of our own planet , we have to see if we can distroy the solar system next...

"we can't even take care of our own planet"
Perhaps leaving the planet will help us take care of it

Some of the problems on this planet are linked to over-population - why is making more room a bad thing? :)

Santa Barbara County, CA
Sierra County, NM
Millard County, UT
Brevard County, FL
...etc.

I'm looking forward to the time when ESA stands for the Essex Space Agency, and I can watch the rockets from my bedroom window as they take off from North Weald Spaceport

Yeah, pure fantasy...

So our goverment can waste more tax payers money, plus that way the fat cats that work for NASA can keep their 6 figure incomes coming in. What else is there to spend tax payers money on , ( feeding the starveing kids, maybe putting them in a warm bed at night) Hey wait we can't do that, that would cost to much money, what was I thinking...Send up another rocket boys, we need to know why its dark in outter space...

How in the heck , is leaving our planet gonna show us how to take care of it. By throwing our space junk on another planet. You know they say one erosol can of paint propellant distroys the ozone layer. Then what the heck do they think sending up a shuttle does for it ? make it cleaner. What I don't understand is what has the working man and woman recieved form all this exploration, besides more tax dollars gone to pot luck, and into the great beyond where it sits. I give up!!!!!

There is a saying; "You have to spend money, to make money"

Hello?! Do "Tang" and "velcro" come to mind?

Cj why are you using two usernames?

If it wasn't for the space programs we wouldn't know the Ozone layer was being depleted by the old style aerosols.

Our ability to understand our planet come largely from satellites and comparisons with other planets.