Government spending on exploring outer space, from my point of view, is not at all a waste of money. In fact, countries around the world, especially the global powers such as the US, China, and Russia are funneling tons of funds into outer space projects. Such exorbitant investments have their reasons, for  it is commonly expected that the current and next century will be a war of acquiring first-mover advantage in space. Although Korea has included itself among just a handful of countries that have launched a spaceship, there is still a great need for both technological expertise and promotion of experts since the launch would not have been possible without Russia's paid assistance. Needless to say, if we can see fruitful outcomes from the investments in outer space, the benefits will surely outweigh the financial burden. In this regard, the word 'rocket science'  indeed tells us that new discoveries and findings from the projects can give us even more advantages when applied to other crucial industries.

Thanks for your input, 어빈. ^^