General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: We should have been colonizing the solar system by now. [View all]sofa king
(10,857 posts)We reduce their power use with LED lights. We keep them alive with heart pumps. We take accurate temperatures with IR ear thermometers. The war-torn use effective artificial limbs. They peer through scratch-resistant glasses. We keep them safer on the highway and in the air, and accurately test the environment to keep it cleaner, and clean it up. We fight fires. We make baby food more nutritious. We freeze-dry food for the hungry. We purify water, generate electricity with solar power, make engines.
We do all of those things better than we did as a direct result of putting humans into space, because the technology that made all of the above possible had to first be invented and perfected so that humans could venture into space.
Doing so gave the United States a technological and manufacturing edge that kept it the most powerful and innovative nation the world had ever seen--for thirty years.
Human space travel means progress for all humankind.