“But what do we get out of the space program? Shouldn’t we spend that money on solving problems here on Earth?”
It’s not either-or.
Originally shared by NASA
Algorithm, created to help pick options for Mars, now helps with energy efficiency of homes on Earth: http://www.nasa.gov/offices/oct/feature/how-a-solution-for-mars-architecture-helped-with-energy-efficiency-in-the-home
What I don’t understand is why people don’t know what funds for NASA bring to our economy, our lives and standard of living.
Perhaps because they are no more willing to trust claims by NASA about accidental benefits they produce than to trust advertising by private firms about how wonderful their products are. I haven’t looked into such claims, but they don’t strike me as terribly plausible. If technology is progressing in some area where NASA is one of the organizations active, it’s always possible to claim that they are the reason–but I would want to see more than claims.
Pretty nearly everyone, private or public, is biased in favor of believing in the special importance and value of what he does.
The benefits from NASA are anything but accidental. All technology produced by NASA is available to the public, so we can look at evidence to see what they do for us. No need to trust publications or advertisements, just look at where NASA’s technology goes. For example: http://jalopnik.com/5895646/how-nasa-rocket-technology-led-to-the-ultimate-fire-fighting-weapon
I do know that memory foam was developed for the astronauts.
I agree about the “not either or”
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