While not wishing to condem the space program entirely, I am inclined to think that a lot of it is an esoteric waste of money, that could be better spent elsewhere. It might actually seem to be a preparation for an evacuation, for when humanity completes the trashing of planet Earth.
I see the current space station as being a white elephant. This project should have been killed a long time ago. The problem is, once a hoard of money is spent on a project, the only thing to do is to spend a hoard more, to finish the job.
A while back, a lot of money was spent on a super-collider project, located in Texas. Fortunately, that project was killed.
Moose
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