So they find planets 40 light years away that might hold life...might.
Our Nation is literally drowning in debt, has an infrastructure falling to pieces and yet we are spending dough to find planets so far away the distance has to be expressed in light years? Oy vey!
I’m no Luddite.
I think weather-sats are the greatest thing since bread itself.
My sense that this is all a waste goes for manned visit to the dead and desolate world of Mars. Why? Robots will do a better job and even that can be seen as a waste.
I just think the money could be better spent on more worthwhile pursuits - like safe roads or fixing bridges. YMMV
I hear what you are saying, but I think you would find that the benefit of this type of work, dollar for dollar, is well beyond just the science that might be revealed, and much more valuable than the dollar for dollar benefit of much more costly programs.
One of the purposes of NASA, not expressed often enough, is to help foster and maintain a sufficiently educated workforce so that the national (defense) needs of our nation are never in peril. The manned and unmanned programs (and some people like one over the other) both inspire young people towards engineering disciplines, maintain critical industries that are able to produce dual use technologies that otherwise could not be sustained, and push new technologies that flow back to shape our future and make our lives easier (for better or worse).
Infrastructure certainly needs revamping, but the tech for new roads and bridges is always going to be there or able to be reconstituted in days or weeks, as opposed to years to restart some high tech manufacturing lines. And the savings available from other wasteful govt redistribution programs far exceed NASA's total budget.
The technological ROI Return On Investment of the 1950s through 1980s NASA Space program is exponential.
Everything from computer microchips to aluminum foil to plastic sheet wrapping to very advanced military products and missile technology, you-name-it had origins in the US Space Program. It is one of the best, if not the best, of government programs ever.
It puts a lot of young talent to work in careers that give back to society for generations. It keeps the US in the leadership of technology.
So many world class scientists have come through the NASA pipelines in the past. During the OBAMA years, it was subverted to an extent and steered to bizarrely politicized targets. I don’t think for a moment that type of mission planning will happen under President Trump.
This new telescope is an exploratory tool for astronomy and discovery. It is unfortunate that they use the term ‘habitable’ because that cannot be known. There will be no mission to send humans to such places unless a form of space travel is discovered that enables it. So for now it’s just a telescope.
But as an expense, this telescope was an effort that employed scientists in ways to discover improvements and breakthroughs. The benefit of these persons and what they discovered will carry over to other technologies both in the military and consumer space. For example, faster more high-resolution reconnaissance or security surveillance and video recognition for homes, schools, airports, public areas, robots. These kinds of seemingly unrelated applications are made possible because the engineers and scientists are engaged in life-long learning, what they learn and master in one area is carried over into other product spaces and applications.
It’s not a huge government program, it’s not a poorly defined program like social outreach to Muslims and underrepresented peoples, man-made climate change, etc.
It actually is a type of grand program that enables some of the best scientific minds to focus and develop their skills, knowledge, and development with like-minded colleagues. They become a community that has huge benefits to American society.
I see it as far superior to letting Elon Musk lead the scientific frontier. I see it as a continuation of Lewis and Clark that allows America to be first. It’s a good thing.