[dasil003]

How about sending a man to the moon? That also seems like a waste of resources, we just aren't morally opposed to it because everyone got paid. However politically they both seem to be in the same class of great human endeavours with no practical value.

[Clever321]

Neil deGrasse Tyson argues, and I agree, that the ability to send people, probes, satellites, etc. into space is of utmost importance on a grander scale. Imagine being a species capable of space-flight that is unable or unwilling to save itself from destruction when an asteroid comes too near. "We would be the laughing stock of the universe -- 'Oh haha, yea, look at those silly humans who could have saved themselves, but didn't.'". The space program is incredibly expensive, but what is the cost of Earth?