I may be out of a job soon.

Space exploration, including manned space flight, is one of those things that I would gladly pay extra taxes for if I had a guarantee that my additional tax money would be directly used for that purpose, and no other. Paying down the national debt is another one. I think a lot of people feel this way.

It's really my lack of faith in the ginormous bueracracy that is our government to actually use my $ for what they say they will that prevents this from becoming a reality.
 
2manband said:
Space exploration, including manned space flight, is one of those things that I would gladly pay extra taxes for if I had a guarantee that my additional tax money would be directly used for that purpose, and no other. Paying down the national debt is another one.

It's really my lack of faith in the ginormous bueracracy that is our government to actually use my $ for what they say they will that prevents this from becoming a reality.
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I'd have to agree with you.

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to pay your taxes towards specific parts of the budget?
 
Punchy said:
We're going to continue going to space, we'll just pay Russia, or India, or who knows where to send our astronauts up. Why not keep it "in-house" and keep Americans working, innovating, discovering?

Here's a partial list of things they're doing in space that we can't do here:
ISS Experiments

But if you didn't know about that list of experiments, you don't care anyway, so why ask?
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But how many of those projects are basically studying things that are mainly relevant to more space travel?

I'm not saying it's wrong to find that sort of thing interesting, but the "NASA = innovation" argument often assumes that NASA-based innovation is inherently good. Many, many people have lived and continue to live without knowing about microgravity's effect on rodent bone density. I'm ambivalent about the government subsidizing a massive program because folks have been conditioned to be kinda interested in this stuff. Nevermind the weaponization of space that is at the heart of the NASA project from the very beginning of the "space age."
 
Mrs.P said:
WOW. I may have to change my opinion about you. That was very well stated.
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Thanks. I'm actually a very introspective guy... almost to a fault. That part of me doesn't translate well into my "online persona" so I usually just slather the boards with my absurd sense of humor and keep the serious stuff to myself. :embarrassed:
 
Not to throw the spectre of doom over everyone.....


... but let's say we were aware of a meteor the size of texas was heading straight at earth, and that if we had only spent a little more time on space exploration and Mars colonization, there would be a chance that humanity could at least survive the eradication of planet earth.....


... at that point, Apple, Microsoft, Google, and every brain in every country would probably unite and throw everything they had at getting our asses to a Red-Planet outpost.


But as it currently stands, our Country spend more money on the NFL and the Superbowl than we do on space exploration, and most of the latte' sipping citizens are fine with that because it doesn't immediately effect them or their retirement portfolio.


Humanity is about SURVIVAL, yet somewhere along the line, we've lost sight of keeping humanity healthy, educated, and branching out to other locations to ensure our species survival, no matter what happens to natural resorces or geography.
 
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Sad Navigator said:
But how many of those projects are basically studying things that are mainly relevant to more space travel?

I'm not saying it's wrong to find that sort of thing interesting, but the "NASA = innovation" argument often assumes that NASA-based innovation is inherently good. Many, many people have lived and continue to live without knowing about microgravity's effect on rodent bone density. I'm ambivalent about the government subsidizing a massive program because folks have been conditioned to be kinda interested in this stuff. Nevermind the weaponization of space that is at the heart of the NASA project from the very beginning of the "space age."
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It's all science. And jobs. But a ton of science.

Sure, there are privately funded scientific research places all over the world, how many of them have left the atmosphere? This planet has killed off its inhabitants before, and humans are ill-equipped to survive a global catastrophe compared to most of the other critters out there, why not throw a fraction of a percent of the budget to the group of people who are smart enough to get us off of this rock when the time comes?
 
Help!I'maRock! said:
you can do this already . it's called giving to charity.
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in addition to the 30% or so (actually more) of my income that gets sent to make brdiges to nowhere in Alaska?

mattburnside said:
You mean so the rest of the country didn't have to pay for a federal bailout of California? Be careful what you wish for.
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Actually, California shouldn't need a bailout. If it goes under because the citizens are too stupid to elect effective leadership then thats a great excuse for me to move someplace else. Hopefully where almost $400k gets me more that 1000 square feet of 60 year old house on a 6500 square foot lot. :mad:
 
Mark Wein said:
in addition to the 30% or so (actually more) of my income that gets sent to make brdiges to nowhere in Alaska?



Actually, California shouldn't need a bailout. If it goes under because the citizens are too stupid to elect effective leadership then thats a great excuse for me to move someplace else. Hopefully where almost $400k gets me more that 1000 square feet of 60 year old house on a 6500 square foot lot. :mad:
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Tru dat, yo :embarrassed:
 
Mark Wein said:
This could become a circular argument, though. Without the technology we won't have the "high speed" nature that would make the trains worthwhile or something like that. The various government programs being cut wouldn't spin off consumer technologies that would create jobs and make this a better place to live.......WE WOULDN"T HAVE TANG IF THERE WASN'T A SPACE PROGRAM!Q!!!!!!!!!
:embarrassed:


I'm being facetious but I think I agree with Grits' comment above that it's these endeavors that make this country one of the best places in the world to live and I'd hate to lose that.
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Sorry, TANG predated the human space flight program.

There are literally thousands of NASA innovations we use and enjoy on a daily basis, this little PC is just one.

Like Steverino, I have deep roots in the aerospace industry. Between my father and I we had 37 years in the industry, not counting his 10 years at Boeing. I have worked on many different aspects of the industry, from acoustic launch and trans orbital simulation to large vehicle thermovacuum test and on-orbit simulation to building and testing earth position sensors to integration, launch and recovery of spacecraft via the shuttle. Killing off manned space flight would be a huge mistake.
 
Punchy said:
This planet has killed off its inhabitants before, and humans are ill-equipped to survive a global catastrophe compared to most of the other critters out there, why not throw a fraction of a percent of the budget to the group of people who are smart enough to get us off of this rock when the time comes?
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Exactly. We cut down all the trees on one island, or a plague wipes out half the people of another country... and we keep spreading out across every stretch of the globe for more personal space or new resources....

... but now the lands are overpopulated and the oceans are even being poisoned, polluted, and overfished to the point that they are almost past the point of irreparable scars. Soon the famine and droughts of third world countries will be global and we'll look at each other as if it's a big shock.
 
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