[sergiosgc]

A couple non contestable points:

1. It has been useful so far as a challenge for technological development that finds other uses on the ground, and this is certainly not about to change;

2. It has been useful so far, in direct applications, and there are still direct uses to be covered (dangerous asteroid avoidance, as an example);

3. It tackles the SPOF we have as a species: living on a single planet;

But the more important one, for me, is one that is contestable. Space faring provides humans with an aspirational goal. Without a long term goal, we are reduced to either an hedonist life, or a never-ending struggle against entropy. We are better, as individuals and as a society, when there is something to long for in the horizon.

[bgitarts]

The first two points can be said about cryptography