[Rockhounds] The Asteroid Bennu

[Paul van den Bergen]

This is a common mistake - presenting a false dichotomy

It's not a question of choosing one of the two - feeding people versus
exploring space.

If you want to argue that we fail to take care of people and target an area
to defund, I'm sure you can think of a few dozen large budget items that
can be cut before space exploration or science.

But wait there is more.

The effectiveness of government spending in terms of economic impact and
stimulus is non-linear.  Some activities are sinks, some are accelerators.

IIUC, spending on defense returns about 65 c for every dollar spent.

Social security, care and welfare return somewhere between $5 and $10 for
every dollar spent (I think?)

Education returns $20+ as does funding of Research and Development.

So the money spent on sending a space ship to an asteroid STAYS ON EARTH
and pays for itself many times over in terms of employing people, keeping
them fed and able to afford homes.


So really, if you want to keep people off the streets and gainfully
employed, build more spaceships.