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Are We Spending Too Much On NASA?
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aerospaceman
05/08/09

In reply to Are We Spending Too Much On NASA?
NASA is inefficient. its budget should go towards prizes for breakthroughs in reducing the cost of access to space. Like the X Prize, but with billions instead of millions for the winner.
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frigg
05/08/09

@aerospaceman: Except it needs those billions for R&D. You'd have to award the prize to the winners before they won.
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AlphaUltima
05/08/09

In reply to Are We Spending Too Much On NASA?
the sooner the USA figures out how to get to mars, the sooner we can dump mother earth and head to barely legal coed mars.
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Rabid Penguin
05/08/09

@AlphaUltima: It'll be awesome when humanity finally leaves this beautiful, blue planet, for the red, desert wasteland of Mars. I can't wait.

I'VE NEVER BEEN TO MAAAAHS!!!!!
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Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
05/08/09

In reply to Are We Spending Too Much On NASA?
Actually, we're not spending enough on NASA. NASA has had its budget cut year after year after year since the Space Race became 'mundane' to the populace.

As far as I'm concerned we should have had permanent settlements off-planet 10 years ago. We should have a far more advanced space station that we do.
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axiomatic
05/08/09

In reply to Are We Spending Too Much On NASA?
Guess what people, we are going to run out of resources someday. Then some time after than our galaxies sun is going to supernova. We are going to have to get off this rock and this galaxy someday.

So my answer is obviously that we are not spending near enough.
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my name is jonas
05/08/09

@axiomatic: You mean our solar system's sun will supernova. Actually our star, the sun, is not massive enough to supernova. Once it burns through its fuel it will likely collapse in on itself and shrink to near the size of the earth and become a white dwarf. It isnt massive enough to overcome electron degeneracy pressure and breakdown further, as would be needed for supernova. regardless, this wont happen for 4.5bln years. Humans will be long gone by then.
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Rabid Penguin
05/08/09

@axiomatic: The sun won't supernova. It doesn't have enough mass. But even if it does die out that wont be for over 5 billion years.
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frigg
05/08/09

@gg101: before the sun shrinks to a white dwarf, it will first explode into a red giant. It's not a supernova, but it's a similar process, and will incinerate the Earth. As others have said, that's not for 5 billion years, but it's impossible to imagine that another catastrophic natural disaster wouldn't occur between now and then. 5 billion years is a loooooong time.
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Sean Robertson
05/08/09

In reply to Are We Spending Too Much On NASA?
Let me put it this way. The drug program, widely known to be an abject failure, receives nearly DOULBE the funding that NASA receives. We get almost no return on our investment from the drug program in its current incarnation (mostly interdiction). NASA contributes heavily to our technological innovation, and yet we barely fund it. What's wrong with this picture?
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Nick
05/08/09

@Sean Robertson: not enough drugs?
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my name is jonas
05/08/09

In reply to Are We Spending Too Much On NASA?
Trying to find a way to make NASA more efficient is the best solution. NASA, like other government agencies is incredibly wasteful, but you get away with it when you essentially have a monopoly on space. Private space programs are theoretically the best way to quicken the pace of advancement in space exploration. The main problem is the ginormously prohibitive entry costs to enter such a market.
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frigg
05/08/09

@gg101: One of the conclusions of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board was that not enough money is being spent on space based on the goals. In other words, space flight is so complex, if you're going to do it, you have to spend tons of money on it, otherwise it will fail. It can't be done on the cheap - better to spend the money it needs to do it safely or not do it at all.
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mullingitover
05/08/09

In reply to Are We Spending Too Much On NASA?
Disband the military. It's worthless. Spend every penny that's saved on NASA.
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Nick
05/08/09

@mullingitover: you're dumb. vote republican.
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Bigbadbikernerd
05/08/09

@mullingitover: Those of you who think we can get rid of the military are misled. While I would like to see more money spent on space exploration, I am not naive enough to think we don't need money spent on defense. I suppose we don't need police either.
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Rabid Penguin
05/08/09

@Bigbadbikernerd: Sure. But I'd take it a step further. Get rid of the law. If there was no law, then there would be no crime, and thus no use for law enforcement officers.
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eagles3 speeeedin
05/08/09

@mullingitover: Worthless? you are joking right. I hope you are because if you aren't than you are a moron. The above have commented satisfactorily. But emphasize the parts where entire towns would cease to exist, millions upon millions would be jobless, crime would skyrocket (admittedly some military people aren't of the nicest type), the United States would lose all influence, and we would be bombed to death by various zealot world Leaders around the world. And that is just the beginning.
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mullingitover
05/08/09

@everyone: tell me what the military can do to protect humanity from a *real* threat like a 10km asteroid heading for the planet? Oh, that's right, not a damned thing.
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cpthook
05/08/09

@eagles3_isn't afraid of the big bad Pig(flu)?: I love this argument that if the government didn't employ people they'd be jobless. Really? Forever? If so, how fucking incompetent are these people? If they'd really be jobless forever, then there's no way we should be paying them anyway.

If, as you'd likely argue, these are hardworking, smart, skilled workers, let the private sector demand more out of them. The government only breeds laziness and stagnation. There is no program that embodies this stagnation better than NASA. In the last 50 years, what advancements have we made to the way we get into orbit?
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The-Joker
05/08/09

@mullingitover: i always thought the U.S. should disband the military and privatize the buisness. There would be competition and the federal government could still fund it but it would be spending less money.
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frigg
05/08/09

@mullingitover: If you're comparing the military's ability to protect the planet from space threats vs. NASA's, you should know that the military's budget for space exceeds NASA's, and DoD has more space assets than is generally assumed.

In 2008, for example, NASA's budget was a little over 17 billion; the Department of Defense's budget for their space program alone was over 21 billion.
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frigg
05/08/09

@cpthook: The space program is only 50 years old anyway, so all progress, has been made in the last 50 years.

People assume that space flight is easier than it is and after 50 years should be more routine and advanced. But the nature of the beast is that it is so complex and difficult, that every space flight is experimental, failure rate is high, only around 5,000 objects have ever been sent into orbit, and virtually every one of them used only once - compared to the millions of airplanes built and used multiple times during the first 50 years of airplanes.

Visible rapid advancement in other technology areas raise expectations for space flight, but the realities are that it remains more complex than any other human endeavor. The space shuttle itself is the most complex machine ever built, each flight is experimental rather than routine, it has a high percentage failure rate (2 down), and is being scrapped because it will never be fully reliable.

After 10,000 generations of humans, the fact that the last 50 years escalated space flight to its current level is impressive. Still, expectations for faster progress remain artificially high based on misunderstandings of what a big hot mess it is to launch humans safely into space and return them to Earth so they can astroblog about their experience.
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frigg
05/08/09

@The-Joker: Some of that has already happened, with companies like Blackwater contracted to provide security and other services in Iraq and elsewhere. However, Blackwater employees performing the same job as soldiers get paid far more as a private contractor.
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jonhapimp
05/06/09

In reply to Animal Astronauts: The Unsung Heroes of Space Travel
what no manbearpig?
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Kaiser-Machead
05/06/09

@jonhapimp: Manbearpig is a wuss; he just slinks into the woods to avoid Al Gore.
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Kaiser-Machead
05/06/09

@Kaiser-Machead: Now, Scuzzlebutt was bad ass. Anything with Patrick Duffy for a leg is pure evil.
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Pessimippopotamus
05/06/09

In reply to Animal Astronauts: The Unsung Heroes of Space Travel
Poor spacebat. Although Laika will always have my heart. Poor dog. You're 100x more awesome than me, even in death.
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bosskev
05/06/09

In reply to Animal Astronauts: The Unsung Heroes of Space Travel
Astronimal? Wasn't that a short-lived TV series in the 80s starring Simon MacCorkindale?
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
05/06/09

In reply to Animal Astronauts: The Unsung Heroes of Space Travel
Let's be honest. All of these animals, especially the cats, were pussies compared to SpaceBat. They went in the comfort of inside the shuttle.

But SpaceBat?

He wasn't having that.

He grabbed onto the side,

And waved his hat around during the ride.

Gods bless you SpaceBatCowboy.
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USB_Humping_Dog
05/06/09

@HeldForRansom_GitEmSteveDave: Sadly, I think SpaceBat technically didn't count as he/she burned up before actually reaching space.
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Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
05/06/09

@HeldForRansom_GitEmSteveDave: SpaceBat was the reverse of Slim Pickens in Dr. Strangelove. Riding the bomb into the air, rather than to the ground.

Yeeeehaw!
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
05/06/09

@USB_Humping_Dog: I've seen ice form on those tanks. My theory is he found a hollow in the insulation, and DIDN'T burn up. However, he didn't survive in space. Now he's hurtling through space, next to a mirror with some screaming guy in it, and will eventually find a civilization that can revive him. They can rebuild him. They have the technology.

Or maybe I need some sleep and inhaled to many fumes from the weedwhacker I was wielding tonight.
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bosskev
05/06/09

@HeldForRansom_GitEmSteveDave: Fumes from your, uh, "weedwhacker"? Is that another kind of Volcano Vaporizer?
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
05/06/09

@bosskev: Nope, a RedMax weedwhacker. I have ~10 acres of paddock/yard to mow, and you can't mow in the rain. So I slap on the metal blades and goto town w/the "brushcutter".
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USB_Humping_Dog
05/07/09

@HeldForRansom_GitEmSteveDave: Isn't a weedwacker someone who abuses himself after smoking up?
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
05/07/09

@USB_Humping_Dog: I think that's a weedwhipper.
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SigmundTheSeaMonster
02/23/09

In reply to Satellite Collision May Have Endangered All Future Space Launches
Quark! ANd I don't mean the page layout one...
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Curves
02/23/09

In reply to Satellite Collision May Have Endangered All Future Space Launches
It looks like the parking lot at WalMart for some reason.....
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d_r_e
02/22/09

In reply to Satellite Collision May Have Endangered All Future Space Launches
Way to fuck it up for everyone Russia!
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im.thatoneguy
02/22/09

@dead_red_eyes:

Russia was dead in the water. The vehicle which still had propulsion and maneuverability needed to move out of the way.

It's like running into an island and blaming the island.
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3eyes
02/23/09

@im.thatoneguy: If you hit a couch on the freeway, you can still get pissed at the SOB that left their shit in the middle of the road.
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d_r_e
02/23/09

@3eyes:

Damn straight!
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frigg
02/22/09

In reply to Satellite Collision May Have Endangered All Future Space Launches
I wonder if they'll have some kind of space clean up effort eventually, just like they had that effort to clean up some of the crap left on Everest.
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
02/22/09

@frigg: Except for bodies. They leave all the bodies up there. I'd rather come across an o2 body than an old C.W. McAllister.
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