So why does the human race need (to explore) space?
For a short time we're babies, after a while we become children. As children many of us live in a secure nest prepared for us by our parents. Eventually we reach an age at which we no longer like the security of the nest so much and prefer to launch ourselves out into the wider world to seek whatever it is we've decided we want out of life. The family home is an island in a sea of human habitation. One of many spread across the whole planet. Compared to the universe our entire species is a small baby living on a spec of mostly blue sand. The spec could at any time be washed away, baked, overheated, frozen, irradiated by natural causes or by our own immature actions. This alone should be more than enough reason for human spaceflight to be not only worthwhile, but essential to the future survival of our species. Human spaceflight is expensive and risky. There are many hungry people who could be fed for the cost of one rocket launch. But you could equally argue we should pay for ...