...One thing I’ve never understood is why conservatives are more supportive of space exploration than liberals. In fact, I think conservatives are even more likely to support government funding of a space program than liberals....
A fair and good question to be sure. Aside from the ancillary scientific benefits that have been mentioned (and there are many, many more), I believe that there is a deeper, more fundamental reason.
Space, to borrow a phrase, is the final frontier. And, I suspect that many modern day Republicans are frontiersman at heart. Space still represents a destination that is yet to be discovered and I believe that many conservatives find that unresistingly appealing.
Finally, what is wonderfully ironic about the liberal vs conservative space exploration debate is science itself. If you believe the popular media narrative of the last 6-7 years, it’s the Republicans that are anti-science on almost every front. But with both NASA and DOD near and deep space exploration, it is almost always Republicans that champion the cause. I find the dichotomy of this fascinating.
Personally, I do believe NASA needs to be on a tighter leash, but I don’t believe any can’t belittle the benefits space exploration has brought to the US and to humanity in general. It’s money well spent.
if you want to be #1 in national security you have to be #1 in science and #1 in space: missile defense, satellites, GPS, etc.
Everyone likes the robot car challenges the internet and other cool DARPA projects. I think the problem with NASA is that it is more like a typical bureaucracy instead of DARPA. So that has to change otherwise nothing will get done.