People say that about military spending all the time.
Sure, but does the space program butcher people by the millions?
If the best reason you can come up with for doing something is that it will have some positive unintended side effects, then it’s probably not a great idea. Like, you could just do those side effects directly.
That's not really how research works. You can't say "just aim for those unanticipated benefits right out of the gate" because the very nature of those benefits is unanticipated.
Manned spaceflight mostly exists for PR purposes and is nowhere near worth the expense or risk.
If we can't leave the planet, we're vulnerable to all sorts of humanity-ending catastrophes.
Burning vast amounts of fuel for no reason is not a good way of stopping climate change.
We've both pointed out good reasons for the space program to exist, and the carbon footprint of space travel is small compared to about a thousand other things.
Sure, but does the space program butcher people by the millions?
That's not really how research works. You can't say "just aim for those unanticipated benefits right out of the gate" because the very nature of those benefits is unanticipated.
If we can't leave the planet, we're vulnerable to all sorts of humanity-ending catastrophes.
We've both pointed out good reasons for the space program to exist, and the carbon footprint of space travel is small compared to about a thousand other things.