all that could've been achieved by staying on this planet at fraction of the cost.
A simple answer to every single one of your "why nots" is that WHY NOT SPEND THAT MONEY TO CURE PROBLEMS HERE...ON EARTH, OUR HOME PLANET...THAT HAS EVERYTHING WE NEED IF WE JUST STOP FRIGGIN' RUINING IT?!?!
what exactly are you smoking???? industries originate from a NEED, a DEMAND from the masses that it tries to meet while planets, galaxies, blackholes, quasars, you name it are NOT their to meet our demand. two COMPLETELY different examples.
so it makes sense to spend for example, $10 billion on discovering $1 billion worth of gold on some astroid out there? seriously dude? cost verses return...is it REALLY worth it when that same $10 billion could EASILY be spent on curing cancer with some degree of success!
on the contrary, I am looking at the long term loss...let's face it...it does NOTHING for the common man. neil armstrong landing on the moon 50 years ago did nothing for humanity and reaching mars in the future is ALSO not gonna do anythig for humanity. I don't care what excuses anyone makes, it would be so much more easier to make THIS planet a better place rather than risking an enormous amount of wealth & resources on converting mars into a life friendly planet with a great degree of chances that we'll fail!
big negative...the older generations observed, experimented and created to make their lives BETTER in order to survive by addressing the existing problems that they faced...what existing problem that we face today is addressed by going to the moon?