Obama’s recent decision to cancel manned missions to the moon has reopened the perennial “is space exploration worthwhile?” debate.  But the event was widely misreported: Obama cancelled the moon missions but increased NASA spending in other areas, including the development of refuelling and robotic technologies that will increase possibilities of missions deeper into space. It’s Valentine’s Day soon, so it’s right that we take a moment to consider how much we really care about that big romantic moon.

Space exploration has long been a focus for conservative critics of ‘big government’ spending in America. Their argument is an easy one to make. With a shattered economy, major problems in public services as fundamental as education or healthcare, and a deficit mounting into the trillions, what are we doing sending billions of dollars quite literally out of the stratosphere? Since 1969, advances in the grand conquest of ‘the final frontier’ have been negligible, at least in terms of media attention and foreign policy objectives.

The fact that arguments against NASA funding focus almost exclusively on economics mean that they are easy to knock down. Space exploration as a drain on resources is one of the most widely held false beliefs in politics. The reality is that, far from being a burden, NASA’s activities are a massive economic boon for the US economy.

For every $1 that is spent on space, the US treasury makes $8 back. The enormous revenue from NASA’s huge array of patents goes straight back to the Government, not the Space Agency. Then there’s the considerable boost to the economy that comes firstly from new technologies (ever used SatNav? Sky TV?) and secondly from providing jobs to thousands of people in the science and technology sector. Even if we did resent any spending at all on NASA, we can at least put things in perspective: in 2007, NASA’s total spending was $7bn. This is peanuts in the context of the US’s $13 trillion economy; the Iraq war costs more per year.

But arguments in favour of space exploration go far beyond tangible economics. We know from history that exploration and innovation in all its forms have always been major catalysts for progress and advancement of civilisation. When this comes to something as mind-blowing as space, the effect is multiplied infinitely. It is hard for we who were not alive to realise the full extent of the 1969 moon landing’s impact on the world’s imagination.

Space exploration inspired and inspires generations of children to enter vital spheres of academia and the work force: spheres that cure diseases, preserve the environment, and pull humanity ever forwards into a more exciting future. Socially, space exploration is hugely instrumental in allowing humans to think of each other – for the first time in history – as a united race, inhabiting one planet among millions. The unprecedented extent of international co-operation in space in the last 20 years (especially the groundbreaking International Space Station) is a testimony to that. We need not even consider potential discoveries as important as extra-terrestrial life, usable resource supplies, or a means of survival if anything disastrous happens to the Earth to see the importance of space exploration.

I applaud Obama’s overall recognition of space technology’s incalculable importance. So this Valentine’s Day, as you and your lover gaze hand in hand moonwards, think of the creative, progressive and inquisitive spirit of humanity, and all that it has done for the species.