The NASA LANDER HAS MADE IT!!!

[Whoha]

Re: Get out the tinfoil hats

Originally posted by pchang
Your post of CIA! CIA! CIA! was totally without context. I had no idea what you were referring to. And no, it wasn't the CIA, it was the little green men who have had a secret alliance with the US since we faked the moon landings.

look at the beagle 2 thread.

[Dauphin]

Devil's advocate

Originally posted by Sprayber
Outstanding. Now that we have conquered poverty and no child goes without food, shelter and medicine we can begin our exploration of space...

Oh wait a second..

I don't think diverting the few million spent on this space mission would make anywhere near as big a dent on those problems as diverting the few billion spent on other non-essential government programmes would.

[Sava]

I don't think diverting the few million spent on this space mission would make anywhere near as big a dent on those problems as diverting the few billion spent on other non-essential government programmes would.

The IRS and Congressional Budget Office estimates that the US loses between $70 billion and $120 billion per year in tax revenues due to off-shore corporate tax havens. But it's important to give those people tax cut after tax cut...

The sad part is America could have universal health care, education, job training, and every national security plan experts have thought of if we cracked down on corrupt corporations and made the rich pay their share. But that isn't likely to happen as long as the wolves are guarding the henhouse, so to speak.

[Ramo]

I don't think diverting the few million spent on this space mission would make anywhere near as big a dent on those problems as diverting the few billion spent on other non-essential government programmes would.

You're probably off by a couple orders of magnitude (IIRC, the last Mars lander cost over 100 million). But generally speaking, I think much of NASA's $20 billion or so in annual expenditures (which, granted, can't be much more than a couple percent of the federal discretionary budget) could be better used elsewhere.

[Whoha]

Nasa spending for 2003:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2003/pdf/app26.pdf

[edit]probably 10 billion, not 5 to 6 billion[/edit]

we are exploring the solar system extremely cheaply, from the same site discretionary spending was about 750 billion, and what was total spending, 2.27 trillion?

[Ramo]

That's not the right number (I don't know where it is in the file). It should be around $15 billion (instead of 20 as I guessed earlier).

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0302/03budget/

[Sava]

plus, the space programs have given contributions to humankind that are priceless... it's well worth the expense.

[Whoha]

I think thats expected for 4 or 5 more shuttle flights, that didn't happen last year(2003), the biggest number there is around 10B. So I cheated there, and its closer to 15 Billion for a normal year.

[DanS]

I don't think diverting the few million spent on this space mission would make anywhere near as big a dent on those problems as diverting the few billion spent on other non-essential government programmes would.

That's a little facile. What did you have in mind?

[Ramo]

plus, the space programs have given contributions to humankind that are priceless... it's well worth the expense

I didn't say that all of NASA is useless, but exploration isn't particularly useful.

[Kuciwalker]

I didn't say that all of NASA is useless, but exploration isn't particularly useful.

Just like Columbus going across the Atlantic in 1492 wasn't particularly useful... (and spare me the crap about all the bad stuff the spanish did to the indians, that's not the point).

[Pekka]

I watched the press conference yesterday, what were the distances again? From here to the moon, and from here to Mars?

[Seeker]

Ramo do you have an Oriental background if I may ask?

It's just that 'exploration is not useful' is so much what I'd expect my old Korean students to say.

[Capt Dizle]

I wonder if we could poll the dinos on whether or not they spent enough on their space program...

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by DanS


That's a little facile. What did you have in mind?

I'm not calling for anything. Just pointing out that in the grand scheme of things very little money goes to NASA and so if someone is going to complain about 'wasting' money on NASA instead of fighting poverty then why not complain about the other 99.5% of the federal budget expenditure first.