As far as the shuttle’s concerned, there was once a secret military mission launched where it seemed to me that it rolled more than usual that might have put it into a polar orbital trajectory. Then, when it retuned, the landing was such where they seemed to hold the nosewheel up for what I thought was a longer period that I had ever seen it. That led me to wonder if they hadn’t taken a dead Soviet military satellite that the Russians had lost track of out of orbit.
As for practical knowledge the shuttle returned a lot of data and information that could one day be put to use regarding long termed manned space flight such as a mission to Mars, the asteroids, or eve the moons of Jupiter or even Saturn.
Information gleaned thus far and continuing from Mars from Mars would aid in that type of mission. Plus the idea that there is, or may once have been life on Mars is still an open possibility. I’d sure like to know the answer difinitively.
I’d rather some of our tax money went to these types of projects even though it may seem that the reduction or elimination doesn’t even make a dent in our other spending.
At least we’re exploring the beyond, and to paraphrase the poem “High Flight”, “I put out my hand, and touched the face of God.”