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Originally Posted by glatt
You could ask all the same questions about our Space Station and plan for a Mars mission. From a practical point of view, our manned space program doesn't make too much sense either.
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The only part of the NASA budget that does any real science is a diminishing less than 10% on unmanned space vehicles. How many know of Cassin, Pioneer, Huygens, Solar Max, Voyager (that is now asking some questions about quantum physics), the European series of Earth science birds, Ulysses, SOHO, NEAR, Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer, CGRO, and Infrared Space Observatory. Everyone has done more science than ISS - for but pennies compared to the $tens of billions that ISS will cost. And these are just a few of hundreds that do real science. Notice that the most successful space project in world history is Hubble: unmanned. Even the Mars Rovers had trouble getting a few $million to keep working this year. Knowledge about real science is that unknown even where money is approved. You do know of all of the above spacecraft? They why would you know if manned missions are important? The spectacular and most successful space missions (using science as the critieria) have all been unmanned.
China is simply doing manned space flights for same reasons that America went to the moon. Political prestige. Notice in all those moon landings, we only sent one scientist. A geologist eventually was sent to finally do some geological rock selections.
So what will the next generation American space craft be? We are simply going backwards to space capsules again - because we wasted so much time and money on an 'Air Force' space plane. Who are the world leaders in space launching? The French followed by the Russians - both of whom concentrated on the purpose of space flight rather than in political prestige.
Since we were wasting money, then why not do even more for political reasons only - the International Space Station - that does virtually no science. Even earth monitoring science is all done by unmanned space craft - not by manned spaceflight.
Such facts are not politically correct. And so we invent myths about the products of manned spaceflight - such as the transistor, the microcomputer, and Tang.