Why is NASA recieving a very small portion of cash from the government when eventually it will save the human race? When the sun begins to expand (this is assuming we are still around, which I doubt) NASA and other NASA like groups will be the only hope for mankind.
Given that we have some 3-4 billion years left before being seriously concerned about our sun frying us I’d say there is no rush on this count.
I’d like to see more funding for NASA as well but I don’t see this particular argument as compelling.
Given that the sun isn’t scheduled to expand for a period of time somewhat greater than the period that humanity has spent descending from various genera with pithecus in the names, it is just possible that the point is to address other issues to keep humanity alive long enough to even worry about an expanding sun. (It is the same motivation that causes a toddler to be more concerned with lunch than with the toddler’s grandchildren’s retirement benefits.)
This also assumes that IF the human race is around in a few billion years and IF we haven’t colonized other places, which would be entirely feasible if we stayed around for three billion years. Look at what we’ve accomplished in under a million years!
-Soup
'Course, emergencies might arise before Sol goes bang.
Our galaxy is most likely not big enough to ever have a black hole at its core. Which means that instead of being eventually eaten, our galaxy might well explode as the core stars get too crowded and start going nove en masse.
The wave front will hit us in a matter of 10,000-20,000 years.
Buy your tickets for the evacuation now, folks.
I definately think that there should be more dollars spent on space. Particulary on making launch technology cheaper at least 10,000 fold. I’m just not sure that Nasa and the big contractors (Lockheed Martin & such) are the best way to spend the money. As there track record shows, when congress gives nasa billions of dolars, the contractors rape them for most of it. I think we may need a new space agency altogether. One run by people with a better handle on overruns and wasted $$$'s.
That’s not to say they haven’t done brilliant things and accomplished amazing goals. I just don’t think they’ve got a very efficient process for the whole thing. The Space Station has been killing me for years. What is it now $26 Billion? How much did skylab cost? Now they want to keep it for just 3 people instead of 6? Come On!!! but I don’t want to make it a flame post so I’ll stop typing.
DaLovin’Dj
Hell, look what we’ve accomplished in the last hundred.
…and it can all get wiped out in the blink of an eye…
Re dalovindj’s post, is a new space agency the solution? Should we leave space development to governments? Why isn’t the private sector rushing to take advantage of the opportunities?
The people who brought us the Hubble Telescope are the “only hope for mankind”?
[shudder]
I’m such a cynic. 
If we really want to save Humanity, forget about NASA’s space programs. Fund those astronomical surveys for Earth-crossing asteroids that are going on.
Has anyone read Moonseed by Stephen Baxter? Its a great read. The basic plot is that particles from a moon rock fall onto a lava crag in scotland. Mysterious organisms in the dust begin to “eat” away rock. It goes downhill from there,the once dorment volcano erupts,spewing smoke as well as the “moonseed” into the atmosphere. All hell breaks loose when it enters the earths crust. The world is estimated to last another 30 years before it explodes. Humanity rushes to terraform the moon before its too late. I recommend it for any Scifi fan.
I’d imagine the simplest answer to the OP is that there is very little incentive for devoting time and energy to projects that we aren’t going to need for several hundred million years. That sort of long-range planning has never really occurred.
This has been discussed quite a bit on these boards. I agree that in the distant future, the private sector will send missions into space, but don’t hold your breath waiting for it to happen. The initial investment that would be needed for such a business would be huge, a there probably wouldn’t be much profit at first, so investors would naturally be skeptical.