[Normy]

Basically, if "Space Exploration" means the use of satellites to explore near space, then I am for it. Right now, I cannot think of any good reason to send people into space.

The early space program was basically a medical experiment. Later, with the advent of the space shuttle, the research morphed into more physical and industrial research. This research can be done today without anyone leaving the ground, as far as I can tell.

-It would be great to send people to other worlds, such as Mars and perhaps some of the larger moons that exist in the solar system. But IMHO, this is just not a realistic endeavor until we come up with a viable alternative to chemical rockets. These devices are extremely expensive, cannot put much weight into orbit relative to their size, and are insanely dangerous. A chemical rocket is basically a barely-controlled bomb, and they are regularly involved in what are euphamistically called "launch accidents". What's more, the object that they put in space can only return by essentially falling back to the planet's surface in an uncontrolled fashion, since most of the time the engine/tank portion of the vehicle is jettisoned during the ascent.

"Star Trek" style drives that allow the vehicle to levitate up and down from the planet's surface may be invented one day, but until then, large scale exploration or colonization of space is essentially an impossibility.

N