You know what the amazing thing about all this is? We have such power to destroy ourselves and yet not be able to solve basic things like crime and hunger at home, but yet still we are looking at planets far from us. The billions that go into this... is it really worth it?
It is absolutely worth it.
For every dollar invested in space research and technology, something like 5 dollars in new technology and innovative ideas come back.
Problems such as crime and hunger, as well as war, oppression, etc, all have to do with the human condition. People are greedy, power hungry, self-absorbed, and just plain evil, so we create the conditions that lead to the problems in the world.
However, research and development in the space programs have greatly improved the lives of almost all people in the world. Things such as small computers, microwaves, new materials, new fuels, etc. have all come from this type of work.
As for exploring Saturn (or any other planet), such explorations could easily lead us to tremendous possible resources. For all we know, there could be a small moon of Saturn that is made up of mostly platinum (for example), that could be mined or brought back to Earth and used for specialized medical devices.
Maybe there are ways we could mine some of the chemicals that make up the atmospheres of Saturn or Jupiter, to provide low-cost energy.
There are so many possible good (and bad) things that come out of space exploration, that we can't really afford NOT to do it.
Saturn's moon reveals violent past
14:03 14 June 04
NewScientist.com news service
Images of Saturn's battered, icy moon Phoebe have been captured by the Cassini spacecraft.
Phoebe was snapped by Cassini on Friday evening as the craft flew within 2000 kilometres of the moon. Before these sharp images were taken, the best pictures of Phoebe were no more than a blur. The new shots are already giving planetary scientists some hints about Phoebe's origins and its role in making new moons.
The mysterious moon is an outsider, lying further out than any of Saturn's other major moons, and being the only major moon to orbit backwards. Because of these quirks it has been suggested that Phoebe was either an asteroid or comet captured by the giant planet's gravitational field.
The new pictures show that most of the moon is dark, but impacts have blasted holes in the surface to reveal much brighter material underneath, which is probably a mixture of ices. So Phoebe looks like a dirty snowball - the term coined to describe comets.
Edited: FarSeer on 22nd Aug, 2004 - 12:27am
STREAKS IN SATURN'S RINGS POINT TO TINY MOONS
Astronomers have found oddly shaped streaks in the rings of Saturn that suggest the presence of moonlets about 100 metres across.
Ref. https://www.cbc.ca/story/science/national/2...s-20060329.html