Re: waste of money
Much as rockets and space are very cool, I think we get little payback from it.
Compare spending just on the SLS with the total US spend on fusion power.
http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2021/ph241/margraf1/
One of these things pushes the boundaries of pure science and applied engineering to the very limits, so far we are not even certain of an outcome. It might give the whole planet a way out of existential threats.
The other retreads the 1960's, but even when/if it succeeds there is no significant payoff for the people who paid for it.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
