With the economy being in the current shape (aka, not a good one), many people are noticeably, and understandably, nervous about long-term investments; especially those that don’t return in the same form or currency as the initial buy-in.  With the same trepidation, people are wary about spending more money on NASA, particularly the human spaceflight aspect of NASA.  Sure, folks seem not to mind sending satellites, probes and robots to explore the vast stellar reaches, but talk about putting a human into space, and some people get noticeably weak in the knees.  They talk about risks, and costs, and use the all-too-popular “why not send a robot to do it? They’re just as good and no one cares about them.”  And most of them use internet-enabled cellphones while driving GPS-equipped cars while doing it.

Well, where do you think all of this stuff came from?

Sure the internet, GPS, and other modern-day technical wonders aren’t NASA-specific developments, but the items that are share a very similar lineage with these items, and that is they were initially funded by a federal program that was funded, in turn, by tax dollars.  Then some bright person had an ever brighter idea about taking said applications and making it useful for the broader civilian population.  No one complains now about the existence of the internet, GPS, fuel cells that produce clean energy, rechargeable batteries, or other technical marvels, but take away the funding that funded the programs that initially created these, and the world today would be a much different, much less connected place.  While some may argue that we could do with a little less electronic connection and a little more face-to-face, the fact of the matter is much of today’s life experience (good, bad, and otherwise), would not be possible without these developments.

Most of the opposition to spending more on spaceflight use the argument that money spent today doesn’t guarantee a technical or financially viable return in the near future.  To that I say “well, duh”.  Think about spending money spaceflight like  spending money in the stock market.  You wouldn’t realistically expect to put in $100 dollars today and get out $1,000 tomorrow, next week, or even next year (unless you’re really lucky).  You put in your $100 with the knowledge that it will take time to grow, mature, and make earnings and interests over the years.  If you apply the same principle to, say, the internet, with it’s far reaching influence over the past decade, you’ll see that the initial dollars spent in the late 50’s and early 60’s (yes, that long ago since a national network of radar sites was created) have literally mushroomed into an unstoppable, life altering force that has affected the lives of billions of people on every continent and in every nation.  A lot of the technology that makes this far-reaching capability possible was developed with tax payer dollars with no clear idea of what the future held.

How about satellites?  That’s one thing that NASA does better than most, besides launching humans on large rockets.  Without satellites, most of the internet wouldn’t be possible.  Naiton-wide cellphone coverage wouldn’t be possible.  You certainly wouldn’t have access to over 500 channels from Direct TV or the like.  Weather prediction would be kinda hard (think about not having advance warning for Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, or Ike) and we can kiss instant news reports from the four corners of the world goodbye as well.

The point is, spaceflight can’t be look at as something that will produce immediate, tangible or financial results (at least this is the case most of the time).  Some things will take years to develop.  Somethings, like the internet, will take decades before their full potential is realized (and I still think the ‘net has a long way to go).  If we spend the money now, our children and grandchildren will reap the benefits of our choices.  However, they will also reap the consequences of our inaction.  Saving money now doesn’t necessarily equate the ability to fast track technological developments in the future.  Space travel is much more than just a bunch of smart guys sitting around trying to figure out how to build rockets and launch people and items into space.  It’s where ideas are born, developed, and ultimately transformed into world-changing ideas and concepts.

Also, let’s not forget the commercial applications.  Already we have private companies launching satellites , and a few are looking at attempting to reach LEO with science payloads and perhaps even ferrying crews to the ISS.  This comes with a need for trained people, which equates to more people being educated to fill technical jobs; jobs that will enable them to spend more on goods and services which, in turn, allows more companies to hire more people, enabling them to buy more…and the cycle continues.  Is space travel the answer to the world’s current economic woes?  Not by far.  But, not spending on space isn’t the correct answer, either, and could do more future harm than future good.