The future of NASA

[Alex]

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

Why is space exploration the only gov't funded science endeavor? Maybe there is another that I'm forgetting.

There are a lot of scientists and scientific research in the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense, etc. Plus the government is a major (if not the major) source of grants to academia.

The government has a Web portal just for helping you find all the science they're doing. Some examples:

Agricultural Research Service
Federal R&D Research Summaries
Physical and Life Sciences Directorate
Geomagnetism
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
Artificial Retina Project
Human Genome Epidemiology Network

Sorry to go on but I think it kind of emphasizes my view. The government (and NASA) does a ton of actual science and yet the glory goes to putting people into small capsules and sending them around and doing very little actual science in the process.