Is Artemis II expensive?

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I've been watching Artemis II on the TV all week. It is encouraging to see us finally going back to the moon after more than 53 years since Apollo 17. So I was dismayed to see a post on Nextdoor from a former NASA employee who thinks the whole manned space program is a waste of money, and always was. I responded to him with the following.

Sending people to the moon seems like a much better use of our money than bombing Iranian bridges, power plants, and schoolgirls. Or buying up abandoned warehouses for use as "detention facilities."  Or shooting peaceful protesters on American streets. Or maintaining a nuclear arsenal that could wipe out the entire Earth several times over. 

Humans are natural explorers. It is part of being human to push our boundaries. We've been at it for thousands of years. By doing so we have created many wonderful (and some not so wonderful) inventions, expanded our collective knowledge, and learned more about ourselves in the process.

You say the manned space program had no practical benefits. Au contraire! The computer technology developed during the Apollo program enabled startups like Microsoft, Apple, and Google. Kids of the 1960s were inspired by the Apollo program to become scientists and engineers in greater numbers than ever before. Photographs made by real humans on board showed us a view of Earth nobody had ever seen before. And watching men walk on the moon on live TV gave people around the world some understanding of what it is like to actually be there. It was a collective experience that expanded humanity's overall knowledge in human terms that anyone can understand. For a few years it was a source of national, and even global pride. There were naysayers to be sure, but for the most part it brought people together during a time of great political unrest. No unmanned spacecraft collecting raw data can do that.

I've noticed some of that pride returning this week. Some semblance of unity that transcends our bitterly divided national politics. Unfortunately, it isn't the top story of the day due to a president who has much of the country and the world terrified. But the spark is there, and maybe that's just what we need right now.


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