If you are to wait until every single little health problem is eradicated from the planet, we'd never get around to long term investments for our future such as the space program. Giving all of NASA's budget to cancer research isn't going to bring a cure any faster anyways.

What exactly does it do for us? The possibilities are endless, even if interstellar travel never becomes practical. Zero-gravity manufacturing facilities can produce a wide range of products that are extremely difficult or impossible to fabricate on the surface of the Earth. There is a plethora of possibilities for creating all sorts of alloys in bulk which could hold any number of useful purposes.

Also, the solar system is loaded minerals, gases, water, and other natural resources that could greatly reduce the material scarcity which limits growth of societies and limits the overall standard of living of the planet.

NASA is far more than a simple space-photography agency.

cool, gomen, i havne't been on here in forever... heehe, like the argument, and i agree, we should at leaset deal with all the important ** here first, then worry bout other planets, or at least use all that money for stuff everyone can use. My science teacher last year could have been on the columbia shuttle, but luckily ended up not goin on it(i'm happy bout that too cause she was pretty cool, LOL!) ... yeah, rambleing, sorry... anyway, nice job on this, just a few incorrect words here and there.

Good argument. A bit disorganized, if it was for class. (My teacher would be not-happy)I must say that I agree with you on most of this. I mean, money is mostly wasted on the space program. On the other hand, it might be nice if we could leave Earth when all the stuff we've done to her finally comes crashing down on us. Of course, the chances we'll find anything useful out there? I'd say less than 1 in million, at least. We'll run out of resources soon, though, and I hear there's water in space, on mars.