I am a strong supporter of NASA and especially its space program. 
Recently, some of my friends have come out to say that NASA is a big
waste of money.  Can you help me find specific examples of how NASA's
space program has benefited society, whether it is through new
discoveries, new technologies we use today, or other things that would
justify the space programs rather large budget.

Hello yellowj,

NASA has provided a great deal of information on the question of
benefits to society.  For example, here is a page on benefits from the
Space Shuttle, including accurate topographical maps of the Earth, a
miniaturized ventricular-assist pump based in part on shuttle fuel
pumps, and aircraft control systems for the Boeing 777.

"Space Shuttle Benefits" (updated 08/17/2004)
NASA Human Space Flight
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/benefits/index.html

NASA has compiled a list of resources, including web pages, on
benefits of space exploration:

"Benefits of Space Exploration" (revised July 2001)
NASA Headquarters
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/hqlibrary/pathfinders/spinoff.htm

NASA even has a site devoted to "spinoffs" from its programs, akin to
the page that omnivorous has cited.  This site includes a searchable
database of spinoffs.

"Spinoff 2004"
NASA Scientific and Technical Information
http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/

For an extended discussion in the mid-1990s of the benefits of space
exploration, see:

"What is the Value of Space Exploration?: A Symposium (July 18-19, 1994)
NASA Center for Mars Exploration
http://cmex-www.arc.nasa.gov/CMEX/data/vse/value.pdf

- justaskscott


Search strategy --

Searched on Google for:

site:nasa.gov velcro benefit [Note: I learned in this research that
Velcro was not developed by NASA as I had thought.]
site:nasa.gov "value of space"
site:nasa.gov "benefits of space"

---

Request for Answer Clarification by yellowj-ga on 28 Jul 2005 11:37 PDT

I like what you have so far.  Is there any place other than the NASA
website where people still promote the NASA space program?

---

Clarification of Answer by justaskscott-ga on 28 Jul 2005 11:51 PDT

I believe this site qualifies:

The Planetary Society
http://planetary.org/

It's the first site in this Google Directory category:

"Science > Technology > Space > Organizations and Associations"
://www.google.com/Top/Science/Technology/Space/Organizations_and_Associations/

great, got me what I wanted.

Yellowj --

Here's a page well-tuned to your needs:
http://www.thespaceplace.com/nasa/spinoffs.html

Google search strategy:
NASA + benefits

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA