Your really gonna think it's not important when an asteroid the size of Rhode Island smashs into the US.

This issue is a tremendous waste of time, effort, money and human lives. Space exploration over the past 25 years has done very little to advance scientific knowledge to any appreaciable degree because the lion's share of discovery during that time has only been germane to that subject. Self-referential knowledge that has little bearing on any other scientific pursuits. The money wasted on this nonsense would be put to much better use on improving our educational system, national infrastructure, healthcare systems, energy resources and consumer-oriented research and development. Improve the quality of life for our citizens and save the planet before you go rushing off to tamper with, and pollute, the rest of the cosmos.

I support space exploration, but not from tax money. If the American people really want it, we'll give our money voluntarily.

One of the few places where throwing money at it WILL get something done. All these bleeders talking about they should give that money to charity, or to the poor. should realize that problems do not get solved by throwing money at them, but by a concerted effort on the part of the population. There will always be the poor and disenfranchised,diseases and suffering even when we go to space and colonize the million worlds. i find i humorous that people like to call space habitation some sci-fi dream or whatnot, when they are constantly bombarded by new technology that was squarley footed in sci-fi roots. Satelites? lazers? predator camo? space stations? liquid crystal? waldoes? the microchip? holographic data storage? robots?(they build your cars) the list goes on and on with ideas that were pioneered by far-thinking minds who developed their ideas decades before mainstream science even considered the possibility. Any name some more crazy sci-fi ideas that have found thier way into our everyday life?

Why not give those billions of dollars to charity or to cure cancer or AIDs. After we find the cure for the these sicknesses we should go to Mars.

We have gained so much from the space program and made so many advances, many of which are taken for granted. We as a race seem to only advance when we are given a challenge. It is a shame that our space progam has become a freight service to the space station. Not that it is a bad thing but we should have at least been on Mars by now. We have to develop better ways of traverseing space which will bring other developments.

I guess that you people haven't watched Star Trek! In that show, the human race is united toward the cause of exploring the stars! Space is the final frontier and should be explored! More funding should be given to this great cause so we could eventually have manned colonies on the moon and mars and send more space probes to the outer planets! Two thumbs up to the great NASA! Thankfully, the House and Congress have passed the President's bold, daring, and creative space intiative to return men to the moon, Mars, and beyond! It will be so exciting to follow a manned space program from conception to execution!!!

Money hole. Take care of business on this planet first.

I think it can be an important political issue because of the sheer amount of money involved. The space program is certainly not the most expensive government program but consumes billions of taxpayers dollars nonetheless. Personally I am against using taxpayers money to finance a giant government experiment. Government keeps telling us the supposed benefits and the wonderful innovations that have been created because of NASA. But really few people have actually benefitted. The two guys (don't remember their names) who recently created a shuttle that circled the earth proved that space travel can be sucessful with private funding.

Love it or leave it, that seems to be the prevailing theme for the issue of space exploration. As the practical applications that generate from space exploration are mere unpredictable windfalls as a general rule, one must concentrate in the pure science and knowledge aspect of the program. Certainly, humans are curious animals. We are always climbing mountains, crossing oceans, and spelunking in deep holes just to see what's there. Space is no different (eg our moon landing was a giant leap for mankind as well as the United States), and we consider our progress in space as advances in human development without exception. This progress also provides a unifying force for all cultures across the globe as evidenced by the international space station. Of course these efforts require resources in money and talent. Advocates for the space program push for more funding, yet typically fail to say what other interests must be slighted or ignored. Nevertheless, there is a place for private enterprise in space, notwithstanding the claims by some that corporations would never invest the sums necessary or incur the obvious risks. Histories closest comparison was the European exploration and settlement of the Americas, and that was done by and many private firms and with private financing. Moreover, some like to argue that there are other pressing needs, and while this is true, there will always be other conflicting demands on public resources. One does not ignore assaults and thefts simply because there are rapes and murders. The bottom line is that space exploration is an effort which sates our curiosity, reflects our more noble aspirations, and looks forward to a better future.

All we have to show for this nonsense is a metal that will withstand extreme temperatures and a bag of moon rocks. Of course, we only needed the metal to get the rocks.

Exploring the stars and the Final Frontier is a great testiment to the curiousity and daring innovation of the human race. Man's landing on the moon brought incredible prestige to our country and gave Americans a new sense of national pride in an enduring era of national turmoil. However, throughout most of the past two decades, it seems as though NASA has lost its vision and its purpose. Especially with Bush's recent proposal that we go back to the moon, it is clear that too much emphasis is placed on recapturing NASA's past glory rather than setting a clear goal for the future. NASA has many flaws, especially with regard to budgetary activities. Some NASA defenders argue that only the government can sponser space ventures. However, there is no evidence to support this thesis. A private commercial space sector, involving satellites has been growing in recent decades. Over 140,000 Americans are employed by this industry. Lockheed-Martin in the past decade has successfully commercialized its Atlas rocket launch services. Furthermore, Boeing, which builds and launches the Delta rocket, is also competing for cargo and providing private-sector services. NASA is still involved in developing new vehicles, despite private-sector efforts to develop the hardware. Steps towards commercializing the space program must begin with privatizing the International Space Station. It will cost American taxpayers an estimated $2 Billion a year. There is no prospect of any profitable commercial venture coming from NASA's operation of the station, since no customers could pay for the actual costs of renting space on the station. However, in private hands, commerical use can be made of the station (a Russian company recently announced a plan to build a commercial module attatched to the station to provide TV and internet broadcasting. The problem is that NASA has no incentive to operate or experience in operating an economically viable enterprise. A clear signal of the ISS's lunacy is that with its construction costs at an estimated $50 Billion, it will only handle scientific experiments valued in hundreds of millions of dollars. The CATO Institute accurately compares this to insisting on a chauffer-driven limo to go to the corner store for milk. Furthermore, the space shuttle should be sold (President Clinton proposed this in 1995 but it was quickly killed for political reasons). Barring complete privatization, government contracting could be initiated to atleast minimize taxpayer funding. The final step toward's privatizing the space program is to build down government civilian space activities. This can be done by creating incentives for private sector investment in space exploration and development. Proof that there is atleast some interest in space in the private sector can be seen by looking at the rapid growth of the satellite industry. Politics as usual has resulted in NASA being established as a hands-off agency with regards to budget cuts and thus, real reform has been prevented. The fact is that NASA has proven with such embarrassments as the Space Shuttle Columbia and the $125 Million Mars Lander that is is unfit to handle space exploration. Furthermore, government control of an industry that could generate private-sector jobs and investment is against the very principles of this nation. Those who believe mankind has a future in space should think deeply and seriously about how to ease the government out of civilian space activities. The fact is, the internet and other technological advances were developed in the private sector with support by the government, NOT the other way around. As another reviewer mentioned, the exploration of the Americas was largely a result of private-sector investment. The fact is that space exploration should be a private-sector enterprise, as there are much more pressing needs here on Earth that the government must face.

Colossal waste of time and money that could be better spent on programs that have to do with people already on the Earth.

Maybe it's not a pressing political issue now, but it will be in the future. Space exploration can benefit all of mankind and bring nations together like no other issue. Our differences on Earth seem small and petty when looked at from the perspective of planets, stars, galaxies, and the universe.

Im very intersted in space exploration. I believe thier is definetely life in space. Just some facts that hardly anyone knows about in space: Mars- People could be able to live on the planet if oxygen were available. Jupiter's Moons: Water found on one of them, Europa. NASA officials claim that life could be on it. They report that life could exist on Europa. Pluto: The planet is more like a giant rock, shouldn't be considered a planet at all. Saturn- literally hundreds of thousands of rings around it. 1,000,000 years fron now- The Sun will nova, all life on Earth will end. 800 years from now- A metoer is expected to hit Earth. If hitten, all life on Earth will end. Just some facts about our universe. Don't believe any of this, mail me about it.

It shouldn't be the most important thing on a political scale, but I do see its values. After all, it is a huge morale booster for the country--I mean, astronauts are national heroes (in some other countries, people don't even dare to dream about being an astronaut). Space holds so many things that we have yet to understand, and who knows what we could discover out there. Our sheer curiousity is good enough reason to explore. Though it's not the biggest political issue on the table, there is much to be learned from Space Exploration.

NASA really does not recieve that much money, that's why the space ship crashed. This is really the final frontier and exploration in this way could open us up to unimaginable resources.

I am very interested in the future, for I will be spending the rest of my life there. Private exploration is prohibitively expensive, so until it isn't, the government should support it whole-heartedly.

KEEP LANCE BASS OF *NSTINK OUT!

It's always been a fascinating topic, but it really shouldn't be at the top of the agenda of political issues.

I confess I have absolutely no interest in space travel and do not believe in extraterrestrials (okay, even if it's just mass hysteria, obviously there's something going on - I just don't think it's from another galaxy). Like a few others who posted before me on this topic, I can't see how we can justify tossing so much cash into space when we have a multitude of things that need attention on this planet. On the other hand, as naturally curious human beings, it's almost as though we really can't help ourselves.

A COLOSSAL WASTE OF TIME, ENERGY AND MONEY.

I think this is actually a quite intriguing area, and the U.S. could do some real good by removing barriers to private industry begin to explore space. I read that in a few months the first paying tourist will go into space. I think that's so cool. I bet that, in 15 years, it will start to be commonplace for people to trips into space. All I know is that we can accelerate the process by creating protections for private property rights in outer space and by removing the "competition" posed by NASA.

While I suppose it is beneficial to learn the whereabouts of those weird-looking spacepeople with big black eyes that abduct people in their sleep and anally probe them, I think we should let scientists and theorists worry about this for the time being. I agree that there are far too many problems to worry about here on Earth. And do we really want to develop the technology to visit the land of a race of people that only wish to poke and prod and violate us anally?? :)

There is plenty that we can learn about in space. There are many medicines that can only be produced in zero-gravity. Learning more about space can bring new consumer products down to earth. Velcro was originally invest by NASA. I think that space exploration should be completely privatized, corporations and various pharmaceuticals should be allowed to explore and expand research into space. Frankly, NASA does not deliever anymore and is a waste of taxpayer money. Private industry will be able to take the load and continue innovating in outer space.

We have enough to take care of here at home. Let's fix the problems on Earth before trying to find out about everywhere around us.