The space program fascinates people. Rocket science is almost incomprehensible. The shuttles are a sublime depiction of the power of controlled physics. But sometimes I wonder what it has contributed to us, and so do a lot of others. I asked someone what the space program had given us, and they replied, "Velcro." There was tremendous resentment when the space program began, because the taxes of the poor were being spent on programs that didn't really benefit them, while very little was being done to improve their standard of living (see "Whitey on the Moon," for example).
When you dig into it a bit, the space program has some benefits. Solar panels were developed by NASA. Also, the lens used for the Hubble telescope was converted into an imaging technology for breast biopsy that can examine a tumor so closely it can determine whether it is malignant or not without surgery. Also, there are a tremendous amount of jobs generated by the space programs and the companies that produce the supplies it uses. I don't think NASA will solve world hunger (although they might come up with something through their plant research), but there are benefits, no matter how little-known they are.
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