There has always been considerable discussion and debate about whether governments in many countries should spend taxpayers money on space research. In my view, it is impossible to justify the amount of money spent on space research. The main reason for this stance is that there are several areas in which the money could be invested better. When we have so many problems and hungry people in the Earth, spending money on space is not a good choice at all.
The first point to make is that governments have a responsibility to spend public money on projects that bring a benefit to the citizens. This has not been the case with space research as most developments have been limited to helping astronauts in space or have been very specialized. For example, it is not of great value to the general public that we now have pens and biros that can write upside down. This does not merit the huge amount of money spent. Little success has been made so far on space exploration except landing on the Moon or knowing that Mars had once been a place for living being. What good that can bring to people who are starving in many countries?
The second point to make is that there are many much more urgent projects on Earth that require investment. If governments spent less money on space research, then they would be able to help solve some of these problems such as population control, elimination of diseases like cholera, global warming and food shortages. In conclusion, it seems to me that all of these issues are more important because they affect the lives of millions of ordinary people, so government could provide food for all the starving people in the world if they did not spend so much on space exploration.
