Yes, great is your ego to get people to do things in space. But never believe, that the fine minds who do search the realms beyond the earth's atmosphere, can't do more space science, more effectively with robots, than with people in space.

Your egotistical pressure on Mr.Bill PROVES the great breaking of humanity. If a long lived viable, INDEPENDENT presence in space on other worlds & planets was established, time would eventually split people into different civilizations…one, the HOME WORLD, the other, OUTWORLDERS. & some how, some way, egotistic life would find a reason for war. Your strenuous dislike of Mr.Bill proves my contention.

The ISS is THE FIRST marvel of the modern world. The rest have not been built yet.

Yes, I'd love to do a Moon or Mars base, but I really don't think we are ready for it – too many unknowns and risks – and the ISS is the easiest and cheapest way to mitigate those risks.

Saying that, I'd still like to get more of an understanding of what we've got and where the money has gone – how do we know that we're getting good value?
Nick

Besides that, we have the experience of Columbus: our king didn't waste money and resources with him and look what happened. The Spanish king did and Columbus found something we didn't knew (or didn't wish to be known, no one can figure it). So, we should never turn our back on this things…
Beside that, ISS is not as expensive as it might look. Just check the numbers against program Apollo. Better yet, check the numbers on some really nowadays money sucking actions, such as some middle east wars or even try to find how much money mankind spend each year in cosmetics. Now, that's waste…
Resources and money that goes into space programs are always short. For those younger, just find out what were we suppose we would be in the year 2000…

And here are some comments to comments:

@ Darnell Clayton
NASA is not a financial operation. NASA and all the other space agencies like ESA or JAXA are charged with doing research no business would contemplate because of the lack of a clear prospect for economic rewards. I am quite convinced that whatever Bigelow Aerospace gets up and running (flying?) will be a complement not a competitor to ISS. Make no mistake about it though: I am just as excited about what Bigelow Aerospace is doing as about ISS and the new vision for exploration of Moon, Mars and perhaps beyond…

@ homer
"iss should be moved to about halve the way to the moon". Unfortunately ISS is not built for the radiation environment in the interplanetary space. At the height of 300-400 km it is protected by the Earth's magnetic field. Not so at a distance of say 150000 km from Earth. The Apollo astronauts were out there for a week or so at a time. The ISS crews are supposed to be away for months. Same goes for materials and electronics.

[...] But I’m going to be honest. I’ll come right out and say it: I really like the ISS. In fact, I’m crazy about it, and have been ever since Unity docked with Zarya back in 1998. Yes, my heart belongs to the space station, and since its Valentine’s Day, I’m going to profess my feelings here and now with ten reasons why I love the International Space Station:(In no particular order:)(more…) [...]

Too expensive? Perhaps. A waste? No way. Sometimes you have to ignore the dollars to achieve something truly original and magnificent. Maybe the ISS was a grandiose dream from a wealthier time, but the components were all finished long ago, we are obligated to deliver what we promised, and it will be put to excellent, long-term use.

It is a necessary step in an inevitable direction. We are learning immense amounts from it already, about living and working in space, even without the science research, and particulary from the mistakes. Every bolt we tighten up there is an unprecedented milestone and wonder. It's like a new moon landing every other month.

The reason the ISS has had poor press is because we had to halt progress for three years because of the Columbia disaster, so NASA shut off the PR funds spigot and diverted attention away from the ISS as much as it could while it reorganized. It is now time to make up for this and turn the PR machine back on. The people will respond if you pump them up about something. Time to get the PR presses rolling again.

The only thing that really threatens the ISS, other than technical malfunction, is human malfunction. That is, personality difficulties or future international conflicts. At the same time, having international citizens up there will compel nations to cooperate, at least until we can get their members down. But human error can only be blamed on ourselves, not the engineering.

Yes, its too bad the Brits are not involved, their presence in the space community is sorely missed. I imagine the expense is just too extravagant to justify. But in the choice between national space program or national healthcare, many of us may soon be wondering if you have made the more sensible choice.

And as has been very rightly noted, our current reckless war of occupation is by far the heaviest unwarranted burden and threat to our economy.

Sure enough, 90 minutes later it passed over again, this time a little higher up. Several of us stayed all night, stargazed and saw the last, fifth pass of the ISS toward the south just before the sun came up.

It was a glorious night for astronomy.

The NASA budget is a mere 1% of federal spending. Out of that, a large proprotion is on Aeronautics – the first "A" of NASA. Out of the rest, a large proportion is spent on space science, and on robotic exploration. So human spaceflight is a very small fraction of America's spending. And what is it spent on? Providing jobs down here on Earth! It means employment in industry and research all over the US. It means investment in technologies, in companies and in people. The result? Around $7 returned to the economy for each $1 spent, and don't forget that the missions return scientific results as well.

The US is currently spending around $1 billion a day in their operations in Iraq, which means that less than two month's worth could fund a manned mission to Mars. Don't let anyone kid you that space is expensive and that the country can't afford it. The real question is whether you can afford not to do it.

Let me give you a few quotes:
"Those obsessed with the urgent problems of today aim at the wrong target when they attack the space program. A nation which concentrates on the present will have no future." Sir Arthur Clarke

"If our long-term survival is at stake, we have a basic responsibility to our species to venture to other worlds." Carl Sagan

"The dinosaurs became extinct because they didn’t have a space programme. If we become extinct because we don’t have a space programme it will serve us right." Larry Niven

Don't be dinosaurs. Don't limit the desire to learn more. Don't retreat from space. The ISS is not perfect; no-one claims it is, but as Einstein said; "If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be called research!"

Nancy has put together some great reasons why everyone should be proud of this amazing project. It's there for our benefit – in all kinds of ways – so let's be grateful, let's make the best use of this opportunity, and let's look forward to all that's to come from it.

Universe Today » I Heart the ISS: Ten Reasons to Love the International Space Station…

The ISS has come under fire for its cost overuns, repeated delays, and limited scientific research. But the ISS has some good points, too. Here are 10 good reasons to love the space station….

Having just been Valentines day, is there any example of a couple making love in space – the ultimate mile-high club?

"We can continue to try and clean up the gutters all over the world and spend all of our resources looking at just the dirty spots and trying to make them clean. Or we can lift our eyes up and look into the skies and move forward in an evolutionary way. — Buzz Aldrin"

Wonderful, inspiring article.