A
A Man Called Charolais
Guest
'And if ever the question of "Is NASA worth it?" should cross your mind, it's about as much of a slam dunk investment as you'll find. Various economic analyses on NASA funding over the years, like this 2020 economic impact study, consistently find that for every dollar of NASA funding, the direct and indirect economic gain is between $7 to $14.'
16 NASA Inventions We Use Every Day - How To Geek
List of NASA spinoffs in Massachusetts
https://spinoff.nasa.gov/map?state=MA
'One of the largest hazards for astronauts traveling to Mars will be overcoming exposure to high energy radiation from the solar wind, solar storms, and galactic cosmic rays that originate outside of our solar system. This radiation is more damaging to humans than medical X-rays used to see broken bones or treat cancer.
The Earth’s magnetosphere traps the high energy radiation particles and shields the Earth from the solar storms and the constantly streaming solar wind that can damage technology as well as people living on Earth.
These trapped particles form two belts of radiation, known as the Van Allen Belts, that surround the Earth like enormous donuts. The outer belt is made up of billions of high-energy particles that originate from the Sun and the inner belt results from interactions of cosmic rays with Earth’s atmosphere.
Astronauts must fly though the Van Allen Belts to reach outer space, so it is important to fly through this region quickly to limit their exposure to radiation. Sensitive electronics on satellites and space craft traveling through the Van Allen Belts also need to be protected from the radiation.'
https://science.nasa.gov/biological-physical/stories/van-allen-belts/
Once NASA demonstrated the ability to travel to, land, and return from the moon they were confronted with the fact that they did not have the technology to do so safely and effectively. They turned instead to developing their capacity in Low Earth Orbit.
By having access to microgravity for experimentation, and the challenge of developing technology to establish a permanent presence in space, they were laying the foundations for future manned missions outside the protection of the magnetosphere.
That's basically why the Apollo missions were stopped and there's been none since. A cost-benefit analysis was done. Our technology has had a Cambrian-like explosion since.
