My talk today embodies that point of view. Also, I will indicate the admixture of science, technology, and, yes, politics which has characterized planetary exploration. I have come to recognize that without appropriate politics there would be very little science. At this point I have assembled a number of common though disparate assertions. I hasten to remark that these assertions are statements of opinion, not theorems.
Astronomy is the most ancient and honorable of the physical sciences.
Astronomy is at the forefront of contemporary intellectual activities. All of the subordinate elements of the solar system planets and their satellites, asteroids, comets, meteoroids, dust, and gas are only minor debris left over haphazardly from the formation of a quite mediocre star, the Sun. On several occasions I myself have asserted that one could, as a mental exercise, abolish all objects in the Universe except the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth and that most people would never know the difference in everyday life. Astronomy is merely one of many applied branches of basic physics. The only defensible purpose of publicly supported science is its potential for utilitarian applications.