The question is do I think that we should send another shuttle into space? I don’t think so. One, its way to expensive. According to in 2003 the budget for NASA ‘ was just over $15 billion’. What was the budget for cancer research in 2003? ‘More than $5 billion’. Probably not much more.

Besides, what have we found in space? Not much that will help. Rocks, cold vacuums and no proof of any way that life can survive outside of Earth. And where does this money come from? Most of it comes from taxes but do they people who provide the money even agree with the program?

What about deaths and malfunctions? All that time and money wasted and lives lost. For what? Possibly contracting a deadly new disease, if you survive the take off. Just to take some picture and to get dirt. Think about the Columbia, not only did all of the crew die, but during a ground test, five ground workers where suffocated ‘ during a nitrogen purge’. According to Wikipedia 231 people have died in ground accidents where a engine exploded or a rocket landed where it wasn’t supposed to or launch explosion…and who knows what other kinds of deaths that have happened and we just didn’t know about it.

Going back to the second paragraph, what do we plan on finding in space, anyway? A new home? We’ve already established that there is no place on any of the planets for life. Besides, if humans where meant to live in space we would be there wouldn’t we? But we aren’t. You might argue back that we (as explorers) traveled to other countries unexploded by outsiders and set up colonies there, that space is the final frontier. But there was people already people there, no? And is there any people- or living organisms in space? Nope!

So why can't we be happy with the probes and satellites we already have? Their all we really need…they take some pictures to keep the scientists happy and we don’t waste any more money that could go to a better cause like cancer research or helping a struggling country get fresh water. Even if one day life in space is one day possible, who will be able to afford it? Not many people, at least not for a long time, probably too long a period of time to make any difference anyway.

You could say, well if you think that the money spent on the space program will be better spent on helping people, then what about government funded art galleries ect? Shouldn’t the money used for them be used for better proposes? No, because they aren't kill people when being made.

I’m not saying that it isn’t okay for private organizations to fund them, but isn’t it kind of redundant for people who, in some cases, don’t even agree with the space program to have to pay for failed experiments?

Okay, that wraps up my argument. Basically, I think its waste of public money, but ya know, if you what to put your money into, by all means that’s great.