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12/01/09
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09/30/09
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09/30/09
Important airplane parts are usually made by forging the metal to increase strength. If this method only produced scattered crystal formations, then the parts it produces will be considerably weaker than forged metals.
09/30/09
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09/30/09
BTW, I don't think that looking at the amount of money NASA has received over it's lifespan, comparing that to the benefits received, and concluding that a shitload of money was spent for a few really cool advancements makes you a weirdo. If it does, Burt Rutan is a weirdo, and I'd love to be half as smart as Burt Rutan.
09/30/09
Certainly NASA has its faults and its inefficiencies, but nobody else will really do what they do. They're a necessary organization.
09/30/09
09/30/09
Your assertion is obviously false, because thousands of businesses are founded every day on more or less "unknown things". Nobody really knew if people are going to buy a trip to space from Virgin when Branson paid tens of millions of dollars to build his space ship one. Nobody really knows if people will buy enough Tesla's to make any money, but investors continue pouring millions of dollars into it. Nobody really knows if anybody's going to buy their new Oxyclean detergent. This is exactly how business works. You can run polls and focus groups, conduct deep analysis, but in the end, nobody really knows, and yet private enterprise thrives.
If you're arguing that nobody else will go to Mars in the next 50 years, you're probably right. But, if you're arguing that nobody would have invented the fire retardant material, or the cordless drills, or the etc. etc. that NASA did, you're just plain wrong. All of the things we actually use and benefit from that came out of NASA would have been developed anyway, and wouldn't have to have been paid for with taxes.
Anyways, looking at this stuff closely doesn't make you an idiot or a weirdo, nor does it malign what NASA has accomplished. It merely begs the question of what could have been.
09/30/09
What I'm pointing to is the fact that General Motors is not going to say "hey, let's build a car out of carbon fullerenes, based on a portable helium-fusion generator", and then go about creating it. No responsible business is, because the chance of them going bankrupt is far too high.
An organization like NASA can afford to fail. That's what it's built for.
09/30/09
09/30/09
No, GM is likely not going to say that, but IBM very well say "let's build this out of carbon fullerenes" because there might actually be a market for it, where there would be none for GM.
I find it comical that you're supporting NASA as an organization built to fail. I'd prefer an organization built to succeed, like every private business ever founded.
@frigg: Really? I'm pretty sure Burt Rutan did build his own spaceship, and did it for about $25 million. To compare, NASA's spent $150 Billion over the life of the space shuttle, which is about 1.3B per launch. Each launch of the Space Shuttel costs about $60 Million v. about 1/60 of that for SpaceShipOne.
09/30/09
09/30/09
09/30/09
A bloated bureaucracy that sometimes advances scientific or engineering knowledge isn't necessary if people aren't willing to fund it from their own pockets.
And just to head off the inevitable replies: yes, that also applies to the military, and the FCC, and the Department of Education, and every other coercive institution you can name.
09/30/09
Also, not understanding that the Government of your people IS in fact, your own pockets, makes you an idiot. And I don't want to talk to you anymore.
09/30/09
Obviously you haven't really understood a single thing I've written. Or even bothered to try. So I'm done with this conversation. I'll talk to you again somewhere around never o'clock, sweetheart.
09/30/09
09/30/09
09/30/09
Now that's a dystopian future I could really get behind. :3
09/29/09
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09/29/09
09/29/09
/bitter, bitter sarcasm
Once again, the usefulness of putting many brilliant people together and telling them to solve huge problems is demonstrated. I also expect 3D printing to take some huge steps forward in the near future.
09/29/09
09/29/09
People-that-bitch-about-NASA: 0
07/31/09
07/31/09
07/31/09
Cut the price! And double your installed base this xmas guys! I promise*
*promise is not legally binding nor informed in anyway. Promisee may or may not receive the promise as indicated above. Please do not put in mouth. This product contains mercury and may damage the eyes.