NASA is better at space exploration than Virgin Galactic

Thanks for the rebuttals. Here is my defense: 1) Human Spaceflight Con says that the ISS provided no benefits. However, I can show that it provided many. (a) The ISS allowed humans to live in space for the long term [2]. If we want to put a man on Mars, we must first learn what the effects of long term space travel are to humans. (b) Nearly 150 experiments are currently running on the ISS, and more than 400 have been conducted since research began 9yrs ago. These experiments are leading to advances in the fight against food poisoning, new methods for delivering medicine to cancer cells and the development of more capable engines and materials for use on Earth [1], bone loss during extended time in microgravity, how to protect against radiation levels in space, different techniques for doing in-space soldering to repair equipment, and many other experiments, repairs, space walks and robotics innovations [2]. (c) NASA won the prestigious 2009 Collier Trophy for the ISS, the top award in aviation [1].(d) US and Russia now collaborate instead of compete to advance space exploration. While the ISS had numerous benefits, NASA also excelled at sending robotic probes to Mars, Jupiter, and outer space which my opponent doesn't disagree with. "Russia beat America to (a) as well but do we claim that they are better than us?"Of course, we don't claim that they are better than us, but the Russians definitely claimed that they were better when they put a man in space. When the US put a man on the moon, it was acknowledged all across the US that we had won the space race. When the Virgin group was founded in 1970, the technology to travel to space as well as the moon was already there but it took them till 2004 to even have an orbital flight. The main point here is that NASA developed the technology to go to the space and moon where as the technology was already perfected during Virgin Galactic's time and Virgin was merely following in someone else's footsteps. 2) Unmanned Exploration My opponent argues that Virgin is just starting out and so it hasn't had any success with unmanned exploration of Mars. However, I say that NASA with its proven record of exploring all the planets in the solar system, putting men on the moon and conducting experiments on the ISS is far superior to, and emphatically beats a start-up company that is barely able to make suborbital and orbital flights and is nowhere near making space tourism possible. 3) Failure of Space Tourism Regarding the figures, the 20 million is for a week in space. The 200,000 that my opponent mentioned is for a few minutes in space [3]. Either way, it can't be denied that space tourism is ridiculously expensive and unaffordable to most. My opponent says that NASA has fallen short on a cost benefit scale while at the same time defending Virgin's $200,000 price tag for just a few minutes in space with no scientific benefit. While it is true that NASA costs more and is funded by taxpayer's dollars, it also does scientific research which benefits the community:1) Medical: The infrared thermometer which eliminates the need for oral and rectal readings[4]. Other medical benefits includes heart pumps and physical fitness machines to rehabilitate patients.2) Home: Smoke Detectors, cordless power tools and appliances and home insulation.3) Airplanes: Collisions avoidance, lightning protection and windshear protection. The full list of benefits is too long to list but can checked with sources [4] and [5]. My opponent points out a British newspaper which calls the Shuttle a failure but the Shuttle has had many achievements including building the ISS and the Hubble. The Shuttle itself is a versatile craft which can carry both cargo and personnel while simultaneously conducting microgravity experiments or repair and maintenance operations. No other craft can do this [6]. "Virgin has plans for the future. They plan to utilize their crafts for scientific experimentation as well" can hardly compare with NASA's achivements including the Hubble, the Shuttle, the ISS, and the Mars Rovers just to name a few.4) Astronaut SafetyThe Space Shuttle had 133 successful missions with 2 failures. Other NASA craft have significantly better success rate. For Virgin to have fatalities with barely 17 missions into space shows that it is not safe enough.Conclusion NASA had numerous achievements with regards to manned space exploration sending people to the moon. The Space Shuttle was an amazing vehicle which put together the ISS and the Hubble. The ISS conducted research which led to huge benefits for mankind. Hubble as well NASAs robotic exploration of Mars, Jupiter and other planets furthered scientific understanding of space. Yes, NASA was funded with taxpayers dollars but it proved well worth it. BennyW, it was a pleasure debating with you. I urge the voters to vote Pro. Sources[1] http://1.usa.gov...[2] http://bit.ly...[3] http://usat.ly...[4] http://bit.ly...[5] http://1.usa.gov...[6] http://bit.ly...