1970年，赞比亚修女 Mary Jucunda 给 Ernst Stuhlinger 博士写了一封信，他因在火星之旅工程中的原创性研究，成为NASA（美国航空航天局）Marshall 太空航行中心的科学副总监。信中，Mary Jucunda修女问道：目前地球上还有这么多小孩子吃不上饭，他怎么能舍得为远在火星的项目花费数十亿美元。
Stuhlinger 很快给 Jucunda 修女回了信，同时还附带了一张题为“升起的地球”的照片，这张标志性的照片是宇航员William Anders 于1968年 在月球轨道上拍摄的（照片中可以看到月球的地面）。他这封真挚的回信随后由NASA以《为什么要探索宇宙》为标题发表。
In 1970, a Zambia-based nun named Sister Mary Jucunda wrote to Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger, then-associate director of science at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, in response to his ongoing research into a piloted mission to Mars. Specifically, she asked how he could suggest spending billions of dollars on such a project at a time when so many children were starving on Earth.
Stuhlinger soon sent the following letter of explanation to Sister Jucunda, along with a copy of "Earthrise," the iconic photograph of Earth taken in 1968 by astronaut William Anders, from the Moon (also embedded in the transcript). His thoughtful reply was later published by NASA, and titled, "Why Explore Space?"

说的好

如果拿发展技术的钱用来资助贫困儿童，也许我们这一代人会过得更好，但人类将永远失去继续发展的机会

看完了，为这位博士的博学，极高的科学素养而深感钦佩，也为他的耐心解答而感动，感谢楼主分享。

我们存在于宇宙，活着，意义就在于不断探索

航天的意义很大，贫穷饥饿的清理需要科技的发展。