Daniel said:

(2) The reason to go into space is to EXPLORE and to do science, and that is MORE THAN ENOUGH good reason for space travel. Why load the argument with facile abstract arguments for the survival of the species? We already have the capacities to improve the survival of humanity right here and now. Using that to argue for space travel is a bit like always pointing to the technical spinoffs from space research: people who argue that way are just too embarrassed to point to the real and proper words: "SPACE EXPLORATION"

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Arguments that we should go into space for purposes of scientific exploration have been made multiple times and for the most part utterly failed. It's an easy sales pitch to make towards people like me. Yes! Of course we should go into space for scientific exploration! However I'm part of the choir. My opinion and $1.25 will buy you a bottle of Dr. Pepper. Remember the Apollo Program was originally justified as an exercise in "beating the Russians". After we beat the Russian they tried to remarket the Apollo Program as a science activity (they brought in Harrison Schmidt and began serious lunar science). It was a "No Sale" with the MSM and the general public. A multibillion dollar infrastructure was then hauled off to the scrap yard and thousands of aerospace engineers lost their jobs (most ended up changing careers).

You can't even sell scientific exploration to the planetary science community (shame on them!). Geologic exploration should be ample justification for exploring Mars. Do you think that's adequate? No way Jose. The only politically valid justification for exploring Mars is to look for Mars bugs. Without the falsehood of a "bug hunt" there would be no Mars program.

To get permanently into space, one of two conditions need to be satisfied:

1) Cheap access to Low Earth Orbit that reduces costs to the point of enabling private enterprise to drive space exploration and development (this would be between $100/kg - $1000/kg).

2) Some super compelling reason to go into space that justified the expense, e.g. survival of the species.

Because of the extremely high development costs, you probably will not get condition 1) until after condition 2) has been satisfied (it's a chicken-and-egg thing).

Gary