You know, I was going to argue that such an historical landmark has value beyond what is learned. Those who are inspired, those who believe in funding science, the sheer awe of what civilization can achieve and all.

But it would seem the cost ascended to what would now be $280 billion, adjusted for inflation.

CERN's Large Hadron Collider cost 4.75 billion. International Space Station? A cool 150 billion GPS costed 12 billion to put in orbit. James Webb telescope, 10 billion. Human Genome, 5 billion.

Now, there is a point to be made that maybe we just don't do other very valuable, very expensive projects, and you can always compare it to the US defense budget if you want to make the number look small, but I really wasn't aware of the sheer amount of money poured into this. Damn.

So were the Pyramids of Giza and Angkor Wat.

Isn't anything that isn't humanitarian aid technically a waste of money?

They're only wasteful if you ignore the scientific discoveries and inventions that came about because of the effort.

NASA is like the government's R&D arm with the excuse (marketing) that it's all about space.

> The moon landings were successful and also a waste of money

As long as we have

colleges and universities pour money into sports, taxpayer subsidized NFL stadiums (not having to pay taxes is also a subsidy, we don't have to hand them buckets of cash, just waiving taxes is taxpayer subsidy)

and really any corporate welfare at all

I don't want to hear how investing in science is a waste of money.

He says using tech that wouldn’t exist otherwise…

Didn't come out of my pocket so I could really not care less about the money spent. On the other hand I am deeply appreciative of the way it shaped life and culture since then, particularly in the optimism it gives me for the future.

Were they a waste of money? They kind of jump started the personal computer revolution, and the R&D involved as well as the infrastructure built secured the US the place where the latest technology continues to be designed if not built.

> ...a waste of money

Here's a clue[1] at no cost.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_spinoff_technologies