I just started thinking about it. Why is space exploration even that necessary? They're spending so much money on it when we have so much problems in our own planet..
Do you just not really care about climate research and weather forecasting? Satellites give us more information about our atmosphere than you can shake a stick at, and they save more lives from extreme weather events every year than you can count. Not to mention GPS. You could rightfully call that a product of the US Military, but it is worth every cent that we've put into it