Quote Originally Posted by Gregoshi
Tatooine is a desert world...

rory, there are people researching rainforests and oceans on Earth - and some of the data for that research is compliments of satellites put into orbit by NASA. Also, by looking out into the universe, we may see other planets and stars which may help us understand what the future may hold for us here on Earth with regards to weather, geology, chemistry, physics, biology (life!), stellar life cycles, etc. The fact that we can detect - and even see in some cases - planets revolving around other stars is something that wasn't possible 20 years ago. The more and better we can see the rest of the universe, the more we can learn about how our own planet works.
All well and good, but pointless seeing how one of these suckers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_string is going obliterate us and our solar system any day now.