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IDIOTS...IN....SPAAAACEEE.....

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by DrFrylock, Jul 12, 2011.

  1. lust4life

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    Or Austin Powers.

    And let's get cracking on one of those teleporter contraptions. And light sabers. And flying skateboards.
     
  2. Durbanite

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    Definitely.

    [​IMG]

    FOCUS: One of S.A.'s space exploration facilities (engineered with assistance from NASA - I think it's a telescope) just celebrated its 50th anniversary.

    Other than that, I've got nothing.

    Image courtesy of Wikipedia
     
  3. $100T2

    $100T2
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    Forgive me for being (slightly) political, but man, we got bigger fish to fry here in the good ol' US of A, and honestly at this point in time, the shit they do is basically like me driving to Home Depot again: How many times do you really want to make the same trip to do the NASA equivalent of buying supplies and running errands? They aren't really doing anything Earth shattering up there (forgive the pun).

    Now, if they were doing manned missions to Mars or building "Moon Unit Alpha and Moon Unit Zappa" up there, then I say bring it the fuck on. However, the random stuff they are doing now? Yeah, not so much.
     
  4. toejam

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    I'm all for privatized corporate-police worlds, as long as that asshole Cohagen gives these people air.

    [​IMG]
    http://www.xkcd.com/893/
    (I included the URL because the mouse-over seems relevant, too).
     
  5. scotchcrotch

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    With Uncle Sam tightening his belt, what benefit can NASA offer in the near future? Hell, what could they offer in the next 50 years? Another couple pounds of moon rocks? More "missions" to Mars?



    Why can't we piggyback off other nations' technologies for awhile?



    Shut NASA down until significant improvements are made in space exploration and then steal their technology.



    It wouldn't be the worst thing we've done and would save a ton in R&D.
     
  6. bebop007

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    Carl Sagan actually discusses the additional benefits of space exploration in the early parts of this vid


    Plus, supposedly large deposits of Helium-3 have been discovered on the moon which has the potential to be a pretty reliable energy source.

    I have to say I picked a helluva time to start rewatching Cosmos. A show about unbridled hope for the future and then this news. Granted it's not the complete end of space exploration, but it's certainly not a step in the right direction.

    It's actually interesting watching this video circa 93. Cancelled manned missions to Mars and talks of recent financial catastrophes. The more things change, the more things stay the same, I guess.

     
    #26 bebop007, Jul 12, 2011
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 27, 2015
  7. scotchcrotch

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    Touche.

    If the human race relies on energy from the moon in the next 50 years, I'll support NASA.
     
  8. scootah

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    smoke detectors, cordless power tools, cochlear implants, cataract detection technology, memory foam, and a bunch of other stuff has been developed spefcifically for, or by Nasa and is now ubiquitious. Chances are every pair of sneakers you've ever owned draws on the innovations of the shoes worn by the first moon landing crew. Paints used on The statue of Liberty an the Golden Gate Bridge that save tax payers a fortune every year were developed by Nasa. Footpath and runway safety technology developed by Nasa is in use in most airports in the US and increasingly in new city infrastructure. The list goes massively on. The experiments conducted by manned space missions have made even more products viable and their total economic contribution is staggering.

    While we can't say 'NASA will invent something awesome on Tuesday' - we can say that they've been one of the more productive sources of scientific development over the last 50 years. And relative to their budget, they have contributed positively to the US economy. And while it's hard to say clearly how many tax dollars have been raised as a result of Nasa inventions and how many tax dollars would have been raised without them - there is a high likelihood that they've contributed more to the tax coffers than they've consumed. I wonder if the same could be said for the total cost of ownership vs total return on investment on military air conditioners in Afghanistan and Iraq...

    source

    The former pentagon official is retired brigadier general Steven Anderson, former chief logistician of Gen. David Petraeus. Who seems like he probably knows what he's talking about.
     
  9. MainEvent007

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    I'm only 22, but I can't be the only one on this board who wanted to be an astronaut as a kid. From the little I've read, it seems like getting rid of the manned space program makes sense from an economic standpoint. However, although it's not really quantifiable, I'm curious what effect this is going to have (if any) on education. I'm sure there are other people who liked grade school science classes just cause they wanted to go into space. Every little kid thinks astronauts are fucking awesome. If you didn't, you sucked and probably still do.

    Basically, I think it's too bad that, at this point, little kids won't be able to look up at the stars and think "Some day..." But the economics made it a necessity.
     
  10. Noland

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    No more teachers will die in shuttle explosions.
     
  11. rocketgirl

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    I grew up following the Space Shuttle, and the end of this mission is going to be more than a little sad for me. Even with the sadness, I'm really excited that shuttle's retirement will allow NASA to focus on making the best use of the Space Station and future exploration.

    As someone who works closely with human spaceflight, I there are two misconceptions about NASA that drive me batty.
    1) The retirement of the shuttle is not the end of US human spaceflight. For the last 10 years we have had a continuous human presence in space aboard the International Space Station and we will continue to do so for at least the next 10 years. The end of shuttle just shifts the way we take supplies to and from station.

    2) NASA's budget. I think few people have a concept of what NASA's yearly budget is in relation to the rest of the US budget. When I talk to people then seem to think we get some huge portion of the US budget. Yes spaceflight is expensive, but it is less than many other government programs. NASA gets half of a penny for every tax dollar or 0.5% of the US budget. The last study I saw (which I can't seem to find) quoted a $7 return for every dollar NASA receives. NASA's human space flight (Space Shuttle and the International Space Station) budget is $6 bil of NASA's total $18 bil budget. (HSF source)

    back to lurk-dom
     
  12. heideman

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    Lets save some real money, take away food stamps and handouts to lazy asses. While were at it fuck social security.


    Is it just me or does America as a whole need to take an economics course again? Fuck..
     
  13. silway

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    It's a tragic shame in both practical and idealistic terms. As others have covered, NASA has contributed so much to our country and the world in technological and scientific terms. And the spiritual loss, the sense of stepping back from bold exploration, is deeply saddening. I remember reading an article in Science News Weekly in the late 90s about the time and cost to make Mars habitable and being very excited. But here I am, in my early 30s in 2011 and I can't help but feel like because of the choices we're making today I am going to miss out on the greatest leaps forward for mankind. That I am a generation or two too early to see the missions to other worlds, the medical breakthroughs to extend life that will result, the solving of energy crises, and all the rest. We are incalculably amazing at solving problems when we have a goal to achieve, particularly when we have an aspirational one. Ten years to reach the moon, less to make a bomb to defeat the Germans and Japanese, all involving incredible and ridiculous challenges that we overcame because we put the effort into it and became world leaders in scientific and technical innovation.
     
  14. Slambrarian

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  15. Omegaham

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    Right now, there's pretty much no point to having manned spaceflight. We just don't have the technology to make it cheaper, and for the most part robots can do the exact same things that we can do. Perhaps after we come up with a new energy source, (nuclear fission has been proposed, as has solar-powered ion engines) this will change. Having gotten rid of our manned spaceflight program, NASA is now free to use that money to fund other projects. For example, those aforementioned ion engines.

    Having said that, the first country or company to establish a manned foothold on the Moon will rule the world. It's hard to beat a country that can broadcast everywhere in the world, drop enormous rocks and missiles onto any spot on Earth with minimal effort and no possibility of retribution, and has effectively unlimited solar energy. If any of you are megalomaniacs, pull a Moonraker except on the Moon. You'll have six billion people on their knees in a heartbeat.
     
  16. BL1Y

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    My mom has worked on the ISS and the recently canceled Ares program; not directly for NASA, but at one of the contractors.

    When SpaceShipOne claimed the Ansari X prize, I called her to see what the people at her company were saying about it. She had a vague notion that there was some private space race, but no one there took it seriously, and she had no idea that anyone had won it. The ship had to make 2 flights within 14 days to win the prize (they went up in 10 days), so it's not like it happened out of the blue, the first flight had happened.

    I can understand one person not seeing that in the news, even if you're a space nut. But, for her to not know it happened means not only was she not paying attention, but no one in the office was talking about it. That's the problem, no one there cares.

    For all the talk about how important NASA is for inspiring people, that's simply not the case. Space travel is inspiring, the way NASA operates is disheartening. All the contractors (who do the vast majority of the work, NASA itself is a small part of the operation) care about one thing only, keeping the government gravy train coming. If they switched from rockets to widgets, no one would give a damn, so long as they all kept their jobs.

    Also, they have "morale and welfare" events, typically parties (and often times costume parties) about twice a month. This is what our space budget is going to.

    If you want to inspire your kid to be interested in science, this project will do more than 100 NASAs:

     
    #36 BL1Y, Jul 13, 2011
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  17. RCGT

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    This basically says it all for me. I care about space, and I think it's very important for humanity to go out into the stars. The space business is built on a collective dream - beyond resources and what-have-you, our true motivator has always been extending our reach further and further into the sky, to expand our knowledge. It's the frontier spirit - any social studies class will tell you that's what defines America. But NASA's been kicking around our backyard for a long time now, and spending billions of dollars doing it. That's why SpaceShipOne winning the X-Prize made headlines like it did - it actually inspires people to dream bigger. I can't speak to the scientific or financial realities, but I get the feeling people are a little fed up with the disconnect between vision and execution.

    "You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling."
     
  18. BL1Y

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    SS1 reportedly cost about $25 million, from R&D to launch.

    Space Shuttle Endeavor (last of the fleet to be built) cost $1.7 Billion. These are of course very different ships. SS1 was a 3 passenger sub-orbital plane, the shuttle is a 7 passenger cargo hauler capable of orbit.

    I think this raises a very obvious question ...why are there any billionaires without space planes?
     
  19. RCGT

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    Posting in this thread again to link this article.
    <a class="postlink" href="http://www.cracked.com/blog/7-awesome-images-that-will-make-you-mourn-space-shuttle/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.cracked.com/blog/7-awesome-i ... e-shuttle/</a>

    Damn. Now I will kinda miss it...