However, aside from defense (missiles) and intelligence gathering (satellites), I see no particular reason to spend trillions exploring and photographing space. Seems to me NASA is mostly a huge unnecessary expense.
Aside from the military uses you favor, space exploration is considerably more than just taking pictures. Exploring and understanding our universe and the nature of how it works is crucial to developing new technologies, both for our convenience and survival. I hope you will take some time and look into the abundance of technologies and advancements we have today due to NASA.