RadarRedux,<br /><br />In a way, I feel sympathy for the physicists and other scientists who see their long-planned science missions being threatened with delay or termination. These programs have been the focus of their lives, for years in some cases, and having to suddenly find new priorities when the original questions haven't been answered would be tough.<br /><br />It is not that these scientific inquiries will never be completed, it is that they will not be completed NOW. <br /><br />However, by taking the Long Term View, the usefulness of the knowledge that these science missions seek is dependent upon the continued existance of the human race, a sufficently advanced technology to be able to understand and utilize the knowledge, and the financial resources to make such utilization possible. While I do not belive that Homo Sapiens is threatened with immediate annihilation, I do believe that such an event is not only possible, but probable, if our existance is confined to a single planet. More immediate, I see a decline in the scientific and technological capabilities of much of this country, which could make implementing any new knowledge difficult. And there is little doubt that the economy which made such pure research possible is rapidly desintegrating.<br /><br />Without the stimulous which manned spaceflight creates in economics, education, and applied technology, we could easily see our ability to get off of this rock shrink and fade. Knowing the content of dark matter in the universe is an important goal, but not as important as maintaining the ability to look for dark matter, or black holes, or global warming. I know of no direct benefits from any of the reserach done in physics or cosmology. I can think of several which have resulted from manned spaceflight. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> The secret to peace of mind is a short attention span. </div>