[RightWhale]

Those are valid points. Private industry could do what needs to be in outer space in resource development. This ‘pure science’ thing is a scam: there is no science being done in space. If our Global Masters wanted us in outer space they would repeal the 1967 UN Outer Space Treaty and allow private property rights.

[zencat]

"there is no science being done in space"

Rubbish.

Hubble telescope. Solar, planetary, comet probes. Mars rovers. Microgravity effects on everything from ball bearings to biology. Materials testing. New propulsion systems. There's science being done in nearly every field imaginable.

[from occupied ga]

‘pure science’ thing is a scam: there is no science being done in space.

Someone will bring up the argument that the Hubble is doing pure science, but the twin Kecks are doing a lot more at about 1/500th the price. "Pure Science" is a resource allocation problem. How much to you plunder the taxpayers for it, and how do you allocate the plundered resources to get the most result for your dollar. Sending a man to Mars is probably the most wasteful thing that NASA has ever come up with.

IF they want to colonize someplace awful they should try antartica. It has no resources but rocks and ice; however, it has air and it's tens of thousands of times cheaper to get there.