Quote:
Originally Posted by KWSS1976
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Water on the moon equals rocket fuel in space. One of the greatest inefficiencies of space flight is that the fuel the space vessel is to use must be accelerated into space at tremendous cost.
The Space Shuttle, for example, weighs 165,000 pounds empty. But just to get it into orbit requires a fuel load of almost 3,300,000 pounds: almost 20 times the weight of the shuttle itself. And then this leaves a comparatively smaller amout of fuel left in the internal tanks for manuevering. The shuttle just doesn't have enough "gas" to go anywhere or to do much more than circle the globe on the inertia of its initial launch.
To go to Mars we'll need a lot of fuel for the trip. Having a store already in space will save a tremendous amount of money.
You seemed to also be asking, "Why have a space program with all of its expense any way...?" In a capitalistic society with free and open markets, wealth is generated from nothing. The "cost" of the space program actually represents something of the "surplus" of the wealth the American society has created.
By stimulating the human spirit with things like space travel we can stimulate our economy as well. There are of course issue concerning the ways in which wealth is distributed. A more equitable distribution of wealth could in fact solve most of the problems that critics of the space program point out here at home.
Also, we do have something of a mandate to learn about and to understand our world, our universe and ourselves (
Proverbs 25:2). As a people we should expend a certain amount of energy and resources just on the adventure of discovery.