[Atlas Sneezed]

Among the products we use today that would not have been without the U.S. Space program: satellites, fire-resistant materials, sewage treatment, wireless communications, firefighter air tanks, winter tires, engine coatings, lightweight cutters to free accident victims, computer chips used for digital imaging breast biopsies, ultrasound scanners, insulin pumps, MRIs, radiation insulation, hydroponics, aerodynamically-efficient corporate jets, safer bridges, emission testing, electric cars, auto design, new semiconductors, structural analysis used by auto manufacturers, air quality monitors, virtual reality, global positioning systems used in navigation, microcomputers, enriched baby foods, water purification systems, scratch-resistant lenses, pool purification technology, energy-saving air conditioning, competition swimsuits, golf ball aerodynamics, portable coolers/warmers, cardiovascular sports training, athletic shoes, Dustbuster, shock-absorbing helmets, home security systems, smoke detectors, flat panel TVs, high-density batteries, trash compactors, food packaging and freeze-dried technology, sports bras, weather forecasting technology, laser angioplasty, microlasers for precision welding, and interactive computer training.

---

Does anyone actually believe this hyperbole?

[Mark was here]

Does anyone actually believe this hyperbole?

Oh come on, you know NASA developed moveable type, get with the program!

[JoeSchem]

Does anyone actually believe this hyperbole?

Like the writer says, we'll never know unless we go. By the way, I can put astronauts on Mars tomorrow, if you give me $1,000,000,000 today. Am I trustworthy? You'll never know unless you give.

[Cagey]

Does anyone actually believe this hyperbole?

Yes, it's all true. Without NASA we'd still be watching black and white TV, listening to 45 rpm records, patching the knees in our blue jeans, etc...

I get down on my knees every day and thank them for bringing us Tang.

You're right to point the hyperbole out. It's all part of a PR game they play and most of the items on your list are developed for profit and not for space exploration.

[solitas]

Does anyone actually believe this hyperbole?

I had a posting a while back about nasa and the products attributed to it and got royally flamed for it. I still maintain that, without nasa or the space program, most if not all of these products would still have been developed due to the natural progression of need and technology - if they didn't do it someone else would have.

I still find it a bit hard to believe that some of the items were nasa-developed or offshoots of the space program - no one should just create such a list of items and processes without substantiating their claim.

Is it worth it to set foot on mars? No - not until there has been a fully-debugged lunar base in place for a while and the technology and systems reliability proven in real conditions (i.e. on the Moon - NOT in the Arizona desert like some are trying to accomplish now). Otherwise you will only find (or they will develop for themselves) brave fools and idiots willing to take such a chance only for the glory of having done it on other people's (read: our) money - not to mention the cherry life benefits that will be demanded (by the proles/hero worshippers) for their survivors should the endeavour fail.

[HitmanLV]

It's an exaggeration, but not entirely hyperbole. The space programas contributed a lot to the development of a lot of technologies (NASA used to (and still may) publish a wonderful quarterly magazine, Spinoff, dedicated to the technological advancements that worked its way into consumer life as a direct by-product of the space program.

To say that they would 'not exist' without the space program is unfair, though. Many would have likely been developed in the private/consumer sector anyway. The space program may have 'fasttracked' them, to be sure, and of course, it may have 'slowtracked' others.

On balance, the space propgram almost certainly contributed to the development of these items. To think that somehow these things would not exist but for the space program, is silly.

[Doctor Stochastic]

Sliced bread?

[Ophiucus]

Does anyone actually believe this hyperbole?

Hyperbole? That list doesn't even scratch the surface.

Ever know anyone who had a heart attack, needed a transfusion, cardiac monitoring, angioplasty, MRI, CAT scan, microsurgery, vascular surgery, mammography, biopsy, etc? The space program helped to revolutionize medicine.

Every part of daily life and the quality of medical care has products from the space program.

Would they have been developed without it? Some - maybe, others - probably not. Nothing is invented until there is a need - and space forced inventors to conceive the previously inconceivable. Nothing invented can ever hit the marketplace without venture capital.

Significant events in pioneering never had private funding. This country would not have been discovered, founded, fulfilled a sea to sea manifest destiny without state funding.

It takes a large vision to trail blaze in history and it needs the support of a society willing to thrive and grow to support it.

For this government, it is one of the few times it spends money on an investment and one the rare uses of taxes for the "general welfare."