[Jagermonster]

I know that the ISS could have been far more useful in another orbit, but that doesn't mean we didn't get anything from it. Some examples of things developed on or for the ISS: (1) Small scale water purification systems; (2) eye tracking for laser eye surgery; (3) robot arm (Canadian arm) refined and used in surgical applications.

As with the earlier space program, it isn't so much the doing things in space that has practical benefits, but the problems that get solved to allow us to do things in space. For example, MRI was initially developed to quality check rocket booster nozzles to prevent unplanned kabooms, but, further refined, is now used to see what your insides look like.

[Telepathic Intruder]

There are added bonuses that result from any space program. But in this case there were no benefits to space exploration itself. That is more in line with the purpose of NASA. Although we’ve continued to send robotic probes out, there’s been nothing in the way of establishing a real presence in space. Some may say we don’t need one, but one day we may also find that the Chinese are mining asteroids and building cities on the moon.