NASA estimates 3,000 to 4,000 shuttle job losses

I remember watching the Apollo 11 landing as a 10 year old. At the time, I thought I'd live to see people on Mars (in fact, we were told it would happen in the 1980s). Now I'll be happy if I can live to see people back on the Moon. Nobody seems to give a damn about space anymore. What a waste of a civilization, when it stops expanding its horizons.

Yeah but now we have pringles what else is there?

So far human civilization is nowhere near ready to expand into space. Yes we could spend truly astronomical amounts to go to Mars or a couple other places in the Solar System but beyond the national pride boost from sticking the flag there the real scientific, humanitarian or economic benefits would be negligible compared to what can be achieved with a fraction of those funds here on Earth.

Humans are definitely ready for space colonization. It is the only way to insure the survival of the human race, should the earth suffer some catastrophic event.
As far as the economics, THAT is just like any other thing produced by man. On conception, an item is more expensive to produce, but as techniques improve, the price of items generally comes down.
Space has so far been the domain of governments, which as we all know spend 100$ on a 10$ item. In the commercial sector, with time, space travel could become as cheap as taking a vacation here on earth.
Have you ever considered what the population of earth will be in 100 years? In 1900 the population was 1.6 billion. 2008 world population is over 6 billion. In a rough estimate, in 50 years there will be 9 billion.
Maybe man shouldn't have invested in the laser because it was so expensive.
Some spinoffs from space exploration include:
cordless tools(which I use daily)
satellite dishes(so you can watch all those movies)
infrared thermometers(so you don't have to stick that piece of glass you know where)
smoke detectors
joystick controller for your video games

hmmm. yeh, maybe we should just forget about all these neat little things and give up on space.