> That's a trillion dollars that has been spent solving world hunger, poverty, disease, even income equality.
There, fixed that for you!
The old canard that space exploration has been a total waste of money just keeps popping up. Yet, our economy and the world itself have been dramatically transformed by the innovations and improvements coming out of the space program: solar energy, CAT scanners and MRI for medical applications, ceramic shielding, computer miniaturization, software methods, weather prediction, new kinds of materials, better propulsion systems for planes, food preservation, insulation, on and on.
There are many more. And then there are all the people who were inspired by the space program to go into science and technology fields.
I'd say $1 trillion, if accurate (the entire Apollo program cost about $200 billion in 2005 dollars) would be a bargain.
Compare this with, say, the Dept. of Education created in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter. It's cost about $1.5 trillion over 35 years, and for what? Literacy and math skills have declined almost every year since then.
Let's shrink federal spending in the entitlement and defense sectors, and put more money into space exploration and basic science, and I'll bet you we'll all end up living richer and better lives (and longer lives, too).
"Compare this with, say, the Dept. of Education created in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter. It's cost about $1.5 trillion over 35 years, and for what? Literacy and math skills have declined almost every year since then."
Could you provide references for the cost (including any programs it replaced) and the downward progression in literacy and maths in the USA since 1979?
It strikes me that more people are regularly communicating in writing than ever before and mathematics is sort of cool for the first time in several decades.
The Dept of Education's annual budget is about $70 billion and has been in that range for several years. I did a thumbnail estimate based on that. In fact the accumulated cost might be considerably higher.
The decline in literacy and math scores is well documented.
That is all very well, but could you provide references for the cost (including any programs it replaced) and the downward progression in literacy and maths in the USA since 1979?
edit - Just looked at budgets. You are picking the peak. Which makes me somewhat doubtful of the rest of your analysis. In 2009 it was $32 billion. In 2010 it was $56 billion. It peaked at $71 billion in 2011 and has been almost flat since then.
Appropriations since 1980 add up to about $1.334 trillion. This is not inflation adjusted, however, so the equivalent amount in 2014 dollars would be much higher.
I wish they had given NASA that money instead and maybe we'd have a colony on the moon by now.
You have to factor in the cost of the programs it replaced, given it was largely created by transferring education programs from other government departments.
Also, you have given no references whatsoever for your claimed steady decline in literacy and maths since 1979.
I thought I was aware of the early history of CT and MRI and am unaware of the space programme connection. Any chance you could point me at anything - my googling isn't getting me anywhere.
Nasa and Nasa-related contractors did not invent MRI and CAT scanners, but they contributed significantly to the technology as well as related aspects like digital image processing (developed at JPL for processing Moon images).
I mean, probably MRI and CT scanners would have been developed anyway. But space research definitely helped move things along.
There, fixed that for you!
The old canard that space exploration has been a total waste of money just keeps popping up. Yet, our economy and the world itself have been dramatically transformed by the innovations and improvements coming out of the space program: solar energy, CAT scanners and MRI for medical applications, ceramic shielding, computer miniaturization, software methods, weather prediction, new kinds of materials, better propulsion systems for planes, food preservation, insulation, on and on.
There are many more. And then there are all the people who were inspired by the space program to go into science and technology fields.
I'd say $1 trillion, if accurate (the entire Apollo program cost about $200 billion in 2005 dollars) would be a bargain.
Compare this with, say, the Dept. of Education created in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter. It's cost about $1.5 trillion over 35 years, and for what? Literacy and math skills have declined almost every year since then.
Let's shrink federal spending in the entitlement and defense sectors, and put more money into space exploration and basic science, and I'll bet you we'll all end up living richer and better lives (and longer lives, too).