Some members of the general public mainly value space activities for whatever tangible benefits they may deliver to themselves or to the human race as a whole. So far the only benefits of this type have been "spin-off" technologies which were developed for space missions and then were found to be at least as useful in other activities. However, public support, at least in the US, remains higher for basic scientific research than for human space flight; a 2023 survey found that Americans rate basic research as their third-highest priority for NASA, after monitoring Earth-endangering asteroids and understanding climate change. Support for scientific research is about four times higher than for human flight to the Moon or Mars.
Some members of the general public mainly value space activities for whatever tangible benefits they may deliver to themselves or to the human race as a whole So far the only benefits of this type have been "spin-off" technologies which were developed for space missions and then were found to be at least as useful in other activities However public support at least in the US remains higher for basic scientific research than for human space flight; a 2023 survey found that Americans rate basic research as their third-highest priority for NASA after monitoring Earth-endangering asteroids and understanding climate change Support for scientific research is about four times higher than for human flight to the Moon or Mars