50 Years of NASA's budget vs. 1 year of Pentagon spending

[The Traveler]

19. I remember reading back in the day ...

This was around 1980 or so. A Washington Post article. The government had stopped tracking the "return on investment" of Apollo dollars, because the investment had become so integrated into the American economy that it was no longer practical to measure it. The last published estimate was (if I recall correctly ... this was over 30 years ago) was $7.00 in growth for each $1.00 spent.

Of course, the IBM PC came out shortly after this article was published and that sealed the deal ... the Microprocessor was here to stay. And prior to Apollo, there was no real market pressure to advance integrated circuit technology, fast computer networking and real time software processing technique. In a very real sense, we are having this very conversation because of Apollo. Who could have imagined that in 1964 when the requirements for Apollo's RTOS and onboard computers were defined?

I further note that the realization of human triggered climate change has (at least in large part) its origins in the results Viking lander missions. Designing those experiments, and conducting them, caused scientists to consider atmospheres from an entirely different perspective. I refer you to the writings of Lovelock and Sagan for some good coverage of that subject, if that sort of thing is of interest to you. I find it fascinating stuff.

I submit that if that is "welfare", we need more of it.

I think posing the matter as a choice between a space program (and other R&D efforts) and infrastructure and education is a false choice indeed. What do you propose? Rebuilding an infrastructure based on the best of 1950's technology (e.g. the interstate superhighway)? Or would it be better to invent and develop a more modern technology base? One that screws up the planet less would be nice ...

To me, it is clear we need to scale back the war machine and use those savings to invest in the American people, and a technology base that will sustain them in the future. Planning for that future must include a better understanding of the implications of climate change and the ongoing collapse of ecosystems, particularly ocean ecosystems. In my view, we need lots more R&D ... not less.

Trav