I can understand that, and usually very much prefer the “spend this money on helping people” priority. But I get that impulse much more strongly when seeing our enormous military expenditures or wasteful extractive infrastructure than with technology for exploration. For me, tools of science (major telescopes, colliders, satellites, etc.) evoke the same impulse as funding art; they’re important for the soul, even if I know a lot of people may not be moved by them.