I agree that NASA is a huge engine for interest in science, but I don't think that's exclusive to the manned program. Spirit and Opportunity, for instance, are probes to which the public have made an emotional connection.
Certainly the manned space program gets people excited, but pictures of Jupiter and Saturn do too, and the manned program could never have given us those.
I think that the enthusiasm lost by ending the manned program could be more than compensated for by connecting the public with the exciting things that are discovered by the robotic program.
Certainly the manned space program gets people excited, but pictures of Jupiter and Saturn do too, and the manned program could never have given us those.
I think that the enthusiasm lost by ending the manned program could be more than compensated for by connecting the public with the exciting things that are discovered by the robotic program.