Slightly humorous, via this website:
Top Ten Reasons for Going Into Space
- Reason Number 10
- Colonization – in another twenty years it is estimated the population of the earth will reach over 8 billion. We could use a place to live.
- Reason Number 9
- Place a spy satellite over the Miss Hawaiian Tropics contest.
- Reason Number 8
- International Diplomacy – we went to the moon to beat the Russians, now we’re building the International Space Station as a way to work with the Russians. Go figure. In any event, prestige and international relations are among the most powerful reasons we’ve had for going into space.
- Reason Number 7
- Natural Resources – some day we may be able to mine the Moon for green cheese and the asteroids for minerals and ores.
- Reason Number 6
- Researching the universe – orbiting observatories like Hubble Space Telescope, Advanced X-Ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF), and Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) to study the stars, galaxies, and the structure of the universe.
- Reason Number 5
- Technology Spin-Offs from NASA-developed technology like small solid-state lasers which led to Compact Discs, cordless power tools, solar power cells, laptop computers AND TANG.
- Reason Number 4
- Researching the sun, moon, and planets – deep-space planetary probes and manned exploration to study the atmosphere, composition, and physics of other bodies in the solar system.
- Reason Number 3
- Get Marvin the Martian’s autograph
- Reason Number 2
- Many applications that can be accomplished only from orbit, for example – telephone & TV communications around the world, weather observation and prediction (notably hurricanes), land surveys, and navigation (notably the Global Positioning System, GPS).
- Reason Number 1
- BECAUSE IT’S THERE.
