What is more important, a manned-trip to Mars or alleviating poverty?

They aren’t mutually-exclusive, so why do we have to choose?

Ridding our country of poverty is a worthy, beautiful goal. However, exploration, like creation, is one of the things that defines our humanity. Both have a place.

I think it would be better to fix things on earth first, besides, if we end all ongoing wars we’ll have enough money for both good causes.

Oh my goodness, the trip to mars is atleast decent. Poverty is out of the question. People need to get off the couch and go make themselves their own money, it isn’t the governments problem to deal with. If NASA has the money, I say DO IT, and if the poor people have arms and legs, I say-go get a job. That’s my answer.

ha ha Zack must be Reublican – that was almost verbatim!

I say we need the Mars exploration since we can’t seem to figure out our poverty problems which have plagued humanity since civilization…

I am a republican…

Spirit and Opportunity, the recent unmanned rovers on Mars, cost about 200 million dollars. There’s roughly 150 million taxpayers in the US, so that was $1.30 per person to send robots to Mars. Assuming that a manned mission cost 10 times this much, that would be around a whopping $10 a person. Worth it? Quite possibly, in my opinion.

I don’t personally feel strongly about sending people to Mars in the near future, but I do believe that it is crucial to continue to add to the sum total of human knowledge and constantly work on expanding the horizons of the human race. Without curiosity, knowledge, science, and art, we would not truly be fully human.

I absolutely believe that we must do a better job at caring for each other and making sure everyone has they’re basic needs met, but we should not give up the very things that make us who we are. I don’t think we need to chose between helping the poor and expanding our minds, especially if the future survival of humanity might hinge upon space exploration.

Is not a matter of helping poor by feeding them. We will never stop feeding them. Is better to train and provide them with the tools necessary for their subsistence so they are able to eventually get a decent job.

The problem with our society is that we rather throw away resources rather provide a helping hand. On the other hand there are a lot of poor people they like where they are, because is comfortable living on welfare doing nothing and just receiving a monthly stipend. So the fact of the matter is that there will always be poor people in the world.

It is also necessary for us to go into space to find necessary resources for life since we are already running out of them here on earth. If global warming is true, we are already too late to fix the problem. All we can do is delay its destruction of the human race altogether.

@ed I great answer I totally agree. All I might add is that the Mars trip like all space travel increases our knowledge base and many componets of space travel knowledge have contributed to life saving knowledge through new things being developed to cure sickness and produce foods.

I agree with gooch, great answer ed.

Lack of motivation is a strong denominator in poverty.

Eliminating a manned mission to Mars may do more to contribute to poverty. Children in poverty are surrounded by people who justify their condition by telling everyone they can’t get out of poverty. Generating in these children an impression of, it’s impossible to escape their circumstances.

Fortunately kids are also influenced by what they see on TV. When kids see things like men going to Mars, they get inspired. Teachers also like to share these current events with their classes. They can help diminish this idea that the kids can’t achieve because they are poor.

And the things learned and discovered in space exploration add to our ability to make things better right here.

In places where poverty is worse, where there are few industries are able to employ the people. There are things we can do to help those who desire to improve their life.

And here is the link for those of you who feel like helping out.

https://www.microplace.com/

Ironhiway, this is a great site, first in its class I’ve seen is doing the right thing to teach the poor about compassionate capitalism. It’s better to teach a poor man to fish than to feed him with fish all the time. I will definitely look into doing some investing here, kudos!!

enlighten me. How did the space program or NASA benefit the citizens of this country in any way. Other than tang, Velcro and a few good movies. I know I am being sarcastic and smug, but if anyone wants to put a positive spin on it, I’m all ears.

How about satellites, CAT scans and MRIs, cellphones, fire-resistant fabric, advancements in plastic, the smoke detector, dialysis machines, insulation barriers (now used in cars and trucks), better water purification and cordless power tools.

Not to mention the tremendous number of experiments in space that have resulted in a better understanding of how things work here, that then in turn led to more inventions.

Mmmmmmm,Cordless power tools, now I’m convinced.

@soundedfury where can I check the veracity of your statement “cordless power tools” invented due to NASA’s experiments in outer space? For some reason this doesn’t make sense to me, sorry

http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/spinoffs2.shtml
http://space.about.com/od/toolsequipment/ss/apollospinoffs_3.htm

It’s not a result of NASA’s experiments, it’s a result of NASA’s need for working tools in space.

ok now i am really convinced…..

http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/nasacity/landing.htm

The answer to alleviating physical poverty is to create opportunities. Our expansion into the universe is the greatest physical opportunity there is. Similar answer for mental poverty. Spiritual poverty is another question altogether…

“Give a man a fish and he eats for a day.
Teach a man to fish, and he eats for a lifetime.”

One of the biggest benefits to date from the space program is miniaturization. I think I remember reading somewhere that all the computers on the an Apollo spacecraft could be contined in a modern laptop.

I se alot of biased views in here. Poverty is not a choice. Our current state of affairs does not allow for someone to just go around and get a job like back in the 90’s. The amount of unemployed college graduates is more than quadruple the number of people “riding welfare”. War is what caused this, sinking the country into debt by buying weapons and sending six figure jobs overseas. The men sitting in the house get to vote every january on their own pay raise and we get told what ours are, if we get one. Any extra programs by the US shouldn’t even be planned yet until we can fix ourselves, couple of months ago we had states shutting down. And add to the fact that NASA has downsized tremendously, we won’t be seeing any manned flights for any number of years. Our country is divided between people that think they’re better and people trying to be better. The sad part is how foolish people sound when they say “people need to get off welfare” when only a minute fraction abuse it.

Have you considered that maybe manned trips to Mars are the solution to poverty? Especially if we can set up a colony.
* is dragged from his Heinlein novels *

Those trips to Mars would further deplete money from the Government. The Government needs to focus that money instilling new jobs in our country.

@Moegitto Spending money on economic stimulus is like blowing on hot coals. If there’s fuel, it’ll catch and burn and we go on our merry way. If there’s no fuel (and right now, there is precious little wood on the fire), you’re just wasting your breath and causing them to burn out a little bit sooner.

Which is why the private sector needs to do the lifting this time.