ROLAND Bramham believes the money spent sending probes to the Moon would be best spent elsewhere (HAS, Oct 17).

The estimated cost of the US space programme, from the birth of Nasa to the present day, is less than the amount spent each year in that country by women on cosmetics.

Equally, the cost of sending a single probe to the Moon is nothing compared to the amount spent this year on football transfers or will be given in bonuses to bankers.

No shade of lipstick, no Premiership footballer or city banker has furthered the understanding of the universe.

Nor have they caused any advancement in science and technology, without which there would be no pocket calculators, digital watches, personal computers, internet, LCD TVs, DVDs, mobile phones, etc, creating jobs for countless numbers of people, and no advancement in medicine which has improved and even saved the lives of countless people, as these are all the result of the space programme.

Probes are being sent to the Moon to find water for future colonisation because, ultimately, it’s about ensuring the future survival of the species.

CT Riley, Spennymoor, Co Durham.