Why invest in space travel when so many on Earth remain impoverished?

The value of fundamental research

Excerpt (from first link above): "Here in today’s modern world, it may not seem like investing in basic, fundamental research is a necessity anymore. Instead, our society focuses much more on technological and engineering applications of already-known science. Technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, powerful rockets and satellite internet, and pharmaceutical medications seem to generate much more interest — from both public and private funding sources — than fundamental research into the nature of space, matter, life, or disease. Instead of focusing resources into new, cutting-edge science facilities, the scientific leader of the free world for many decades, the United States, is slashing government spending in vital areas, including for basic, fundamental research.

Some will argue that we have better, more important, and more urgent tasks to fund than something that leads to long-term benefits like science. Others will point to instances where science drew incorrect conclusions in the past, arguing that science is a fundamentally untrustworthy endeavor as a result. And still others minimize the very real problems that society faces, from pandemics to the climate crisis to public mistrust of essential life-saving medical interventions, like vaccines.

However, investing in science — and becoming a world that values, is aware of, and appreciative of science and what it brings to all of us — is one of the most essential functions of any successful human society, and always has been. Here’s a story you may not have heard that illustrates this in an incredibly profound fashion."