how has space exploration helped every day life?
89937
it has afforded us an insight to some incredible discoveries. space age designs and materials are used in nearly every conceivable consumer product from head to toe and beyond. so it has helped in many ways.
704890
Says Dr. Sally K. Ride ...\n\n"The most important steps that I followed were studying math and science in school. I was always interested in physics and astronomy and chemistry, and I continued to study those subjects through high school and college on into graduate school. That's what prepared me for being an astronaut; it actually gave me the qualifications to be selected to be an astronaut. I think the advice that I would give to any kids who want to be astronauts is to make sure that they realize that NASA is looking for people with a whole variety of backgrounds: they are looking for medical doctors, microbiologists, geologists, physicists, electrical engineers. So find something that you really like and then pursue it as far as you can and NASA is apt to be interested in that profession."
171824
My guess is they are related to feelings of confinement as well as sleep and nutrient deficiencies.  Here is a good explainations of the psychological effects of space exploration -- it sounds like this is what your question is related to.  http://www.ibiblio.org/astrobiology/index.php?page=adapt03
967621
Well, you are correct in that sittin' around will end in our collective lifes' destruction.  And attempts at proving life beyond Earth are ongoing.  Many of the missions to Mars are currently trying to prove that (among other things).  SETI is also an attempt to see or hear if anything is out there.  But that's a shot in the dark (har, har, de har har).\n\nThere are some significant steps being made to make spacecraft that can go "fast".  VASMIR (plasma rocket) among other things.\n\nThe two technologies that will drive us into the next level of abilities are quantum and nano technology.  Those will have significant impact on everything we build and contemplate.\n\nEventually our sun will get hotter, that could boil off our oceans (way before the sun bloats).  The Earths core could also cool enough that our magnetic field dissappears.  This would cause our atomosphere to slowly whisp away.\n\nBeing able to live in more hostile environments with nearly 100% recycling ability is our greatest challenge.  WIth that, we can start making our way out of this solar system and on to the next.\n\nWrite me for more discussion.  Fa shizzle.
173979
Give my best friend a hug (we live far apart so it is very special when we get to see each other)\n\nDrive a car at least 175 mph (only made it to 130 so far...and got busted by the CHP)\n\nGo stargazing in the mountains\n\nTravel to the southern hemisphere\n\nDiscover a radio signal from a civilization on a planet orbiting  another star (does not include the one from a passing probe discovered back in 1975 when I was part of the 'discovery team)\n\nVisit the grave of my goddaughter at least a few times a year.\n\nVisit the grave of my beloved fiancee several times a year
469521
The US spends only a tiny fraction of the budget on the space program, and the benefits from it are fantastic.  \n\nThe computers we use right now would not be possible without the transistor, and transistors were invented as a result of the space program.  \n\nDo you ever watch satellite TV?  How do you think those satellites got there?\n\nDo you ever watch weather reports?  Weather satellites improve forecasting ability immensely.\n\nEver hear of OnStar, the button in your car you push when you need help?  It uses satellites to find and communicate with you.\n\nGPS, the global positioning system.  \n\nEver use Google maps satellite photo option?\n\nThe Hubble Space Telescope has given us enormous insight into the nature of the universe, and continues to do so.  \n\nWe haven't "found" anything useful in space, we found useful things in the pursuit!  And we made useful things.  It's what we as humans do best, innovate, create, and explore.  And we've only begun to explore the possibilities.  Zero-gravity manufacturing opens up all kinds of potential for making better things, like perfectly spherical ball-bearings that would have a million applications on the ground.\n\nKeep in mind that we spend ONE BILLION DOLLARS EVERY DAY on our military.  And that's just during peacetime.  We only spend a fraction of that on space travel, but the return on the investment is huge.  \n\nBut no, you're not the only one who thinks it's a waste.  Unfortunately, there are lots of people who agree, and are doing their best to hold us back from acheiving even more.
423179
i think that it is very important in a modern society like ours who might one day venture into the unknown reaches of space to be fully aware of our space surroundings. the moon does look pretty promising for a colony.
110439
Many experiments that have help us advance in medicine are conducted in space. Our planet can be in danger of asteroids plunging into us, and can result in life on earth being destroyed, and by expolring space, we can find out and save us, so yes, it is worth it. And it's fun!
306697
I think, barring an "extinction level event" (i.e. large planet-killing meteorite, nuclear holocaust, etc.) human nature impels us to explore.  As our technology advances we will expand outwards, first to orbit and the moon and eventually out into the solar system.  Sooner or later, even the solar system will start to feel small, and people will begin to look toward nearby stars.  What obstacles we may encounter are left to the imagination, but, unless something stops us before we get established in space, it will be difficult (if not impossible) to keep us from expanding across the galaxy...there are no limits.
1147442
Actually for the larger industrialized nations space research and exploration is a relatively small fraction of their overall national budgets, and space research, if used wisely, can help reduce, if not cure, some problems by monitoring crops for diseases or drought, help track weather, animal and fish populations, enivironmental problems, and provide new technologies and materials that can improve healthcare and life in general, and of course there is the knowledge gained about the Universe in which we live. I do agree that there is a great deal of money wasted in the space program (I think the Space Shuttle and International Space Station are make-work money pits that should be closed off), but I think the more germain question is why so many trillions of dollars worldwide are spent on weapons, corporate greed, and subsidizing the lifestyles of the already wealthy. Cutting even just one major weapons purchase program in practically every country around the globe could give each child of those nations a free college education.\n\nI think an argument also has to be made for the simple human need to know and understand what space is and what's in it. Questions like "Where did the Moon come from and what is is made of?" would never have been answered if we hadn't gone there. Sending robotic missions to Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and other planets in our solar system give us some hint of what those worlds really are like and fire our imaginations, and sending telescopes, such as the Hubble, up into space have given us a clearer, and often very beautiful picture of what the Cosmos is made up of and how it got here. Theories aren't worth much unless there is data to back them up, and these sorts of instruments help us gather data in ways that human eyes or ground-based equipment never could, and while it's true most of us go through life occupied by the more mundane pursuits of life, but all of us at some time have wondered what this Universe is all about and what our place is in it, and I think the questions being asked here bear that out. Exploring space helps answer some of those questions.\n\nIt isn't legitimate space programs (ie., non-militarized) that are starving the poor; it's the insatiable, contemptible greed of death merchants like Lockheed-Martin and greedhead corporations like Halliburton and Bechtel who want to enslave us that do...\n\nN.
1018668
Try Encarta on MSN.COM and type "space exploration... it gives a good definition\n\nheres the link:\n\nhttp://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=761556756
603309
Life is just a small part of the space exploration program. The earth will not survive forever. At some point we must find a way out of here. We also have benefitted greatly in the field of drugs alone. New drugs to prevent and cure diseases have been produced already in zero G that could have never been developed down here. New alloys can be developed up there that were never possible before. The list goes on...
941580
If you have ever taken a trip to a new place you would understand.  If your passion is Geology and you enjoy going in the field to see and touch the different formations, or if you enjoy Biology and you enjoy collecting new samples to perhaps see an animal that no person has ever seen, or if you are an adventurer who climbs a mountain just because it is there, then you can imagine the lure of space and interplanetary exploration.  This is the passion that drives NASA and our Astronaut corps.  Live to pursue the goals of your dreams, let them drive YOU!\nI would go to where other sentient being are.  I would want to learn about how they see their own social issues and share how we approach ours.  I do believe that one day Humankind will live just like Gene Roddenberry foresaw and portrayed in Star Trek.
1050670
Lately, especially here in California, there has been much controversy over the issue of schools receiving enough money. There have also been many arguments about poverty and disease here in our country. Most Americans fall back on the most common scapegoat, politicians and the government, but I believe Americas lack of money should be blamed on a much more concrete, much larger, much more useless black hole: space exploration.\nMany people believe space exploration is the answer to all of Earths problems overpopulation, pollution, etc. It is not that uncommon, just Google pros of space exploration and youll find it. But do you know what is really going into these programs? Tens of billions of dollars! Yes, how miraculous and awe-inspiring was it to see man walk on the moon, to see on the news our rover landing on Mars, but is the money really worth it? What are we trying to find? Answers to all of our problems, problems we created, and problems we need to solve first. Oh yeah, and life! For one thing, theyre looking for single-celled organisms, how will that help us solve the problem of pollution and the greenhouse affect destroying our fragile planet? Moreover, its not Hollywood! Whatever life we find will be microscopic and simple, useless when applied to what the proponents of space exploration say it will help with! There are much larger problems that are much more critical here on Earth that this money could go to. We have much higher priorities we should be dealing with in the present until we have enough money to pay for space exploration with out burying our country in debt, without depriving schools, our environment, the poor, and those riddled with as-of incurable diseases. My grandfather died of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and whos to say that he would have lived, at least a little longer and with less suffering, if we didnt waste our money sending a module to bury itself beneath the ice of some distant rock looking for the tiniest signs of life, alive or dead, microscopic or gigantic?\nAnother problem is, how is space exploration really helping us? One of our main missions on Mars is to look for signs of life forms long since gone. Whether we find these signs or not, what good will it do to help us? There are propositions of creating colonies on other planets, or on the Moon. I find this an absurd idea. Not in the way of the idea being bad, but in this day and time, we do not have either the money or the resources to create these colonies and keep them alive for more than a few days. It is my dearest wish that life go on, that our planet be saved, but how are we supposed to save our planet and its people by starting on the outside? Why not start out by saving our planet from our perspective, first? How can we expect to save our planet from pollution with a colony on the moon if we first dont stop our pollution output? We cannot keep pumping chemicals into our atmosphere and expect them all to disappear! The solutions to our problems need to start on Earth before we can try to solve them from above it. You have to stop the leak in the roof before replacing the carpet, otherwise the carpet will keep getting destroyed. You have to stop building the size of the hole in our Ozone layer before we can begin to fix it. Its like an obese person, you have to fix your food intake problem before you can loose wait. Wasting billions of dollars on space exploration wont help us until we shape-up down here on the ground. The money would be put to much better use on solving the more pressing problems on Earth, such as lack of education, and rampaging diseases.\nAlso, to understand the real problems with space exploration, lets take a look at the beginning the space race. What was it for but for two world leaders competing for rule over space, for self-glorification? And what were their intentions? They believed that whoever ruled space had the ability to rule the sky, to attack other countries. So, the beginnings of all space
302892
They explore an environment vastly different than the one that we currently live in and perform experiments on many different ideas and substances in a different environment that lead to conclusions that wouldn't otherwise be found.  Many things exist today that we take for granted that were discovered or developed specifically for the space program.
959173
Satellite technology has provided society with the following advantages:\n\n* World wide communication (TV, radio, amatuer radio, Internet, for example) enabling societies to better know one another.\n\n* Weather forecasting (for example, the NOAA weather satellites covering the USA), which saves many lives each year by warning people of major storms.\n\n* Spy satellites enable countries to know what their potential or real enemies are doing militarily. This could avert some war as in the Cuban missle crisis.\n\n* NASA satellites like the manned International Space Station enable various countries to work together on peaceful space projects, provide beautiful photos of earth, conduct science experiments without the influence of gravity, and discover the effects of weighlessness on humans in space (for missions to the moon and other planets).\n\n* NASA satellites like the Hubble Space Telescope, Swift, Chandra and SOHO missions  have enabled astronomers to discover new information about our solar system, the Milky Way, and other cosmological entities.\n\n* many others...\n\nHope this helps!
955715
There is an awful lot of info. You are talking about a field to which tens of thousands of people have each dedicated a lifetime of study!  If you are studying for a test, you need to focus on the contents of that particular test.  \n\nA nice site I like that has cursory information on many thing astronomical and space related written for the lay person is the Astronomy Picture of the Day.\n\nhttp://apod.gsfc.nasa.gov\n\nThe archives go back to 1994, with few repeats.