Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science Smart Girl Dumb Questions: Casey Dreier answers why space is worth it
Nov 26, 2025
In this insightful discussion, Casey Dreier, Chief of Space Policy at the Planetary Society, unpacks why space exploration matters. He highlights the tangible benefits of space investments, like GPS and solar technology, that enhance everyday life. Casey shares his personal journey sparked by the Curiosity rover launch and connects space science to broader issues like climate change. He also explores the politics of NASA funding and the importance of maintaining a focus on scientific inquiry over purely commercial endeavors.
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Conversion Moment Watching A Launch
- Casey Dreier describes seeing the Curiosity rover launch in 2011 as a transformative, almost spiritual experience.
- He says the sound and scale made him realize thousands worked for years to launch curiosity toward a red dot in the sky.
Space As Civil Religion
- Casey Dreier frames human spaceflight as a form of civil religion that evokes strong symbolic meaning.
- He argues this symbolism makes space policy about identity as much as budgets and technology.
Apollo's Techno-Optimism Legacy
- The Apollo era compressed enormous technological progress into a short time, fueling techno-optimism about limitless capability.
- Casey says that optimism humbled us later, yet those engineering leaps remain culturally powerful.