Nasa is a waste of funds!

[Ramo]

Businesses have very short term vision in the US. If they can't point to immediate results, investors will demand the project be killed.

That's not entirely true. There are businesses, such as Bell Labs, which consistently invest in long-term research. I would argue that both their contributions to research and their numbers would increase substantially in the event of an end to these sorts of subsidies.

In any event, we all benefit, not just the corporations.

But how can you guarantee that these innovations wouldn't have come about within the private sector? What if, instead of NASA, American Airlines persued manned space flight?

[Docfeelgood]

God, you're a ****ing moron.

More words of wisdom?


Could it be that you are practicing for a third-grade drop out playground spat?


I.Q. test?


"...the world will never know..."

[Ben Kenobi]

NASA hasn't had a goal since the moon landings.

"Oh no! Now we may never know if ants can be trained to sort tiny screws in space!" That's the kind of science we're doing. We're not sailing to America or crossing the Pacific. We're sailing around in circles 10 miles out of Lisbon, trying to pretend we're going somewhere. I'd support a real program of space exploration and colonization, but I've never seen one during my lifetime.

-Andrew 1999

Docfeelgood-
There you go, effective criticism of NASA as it stands. Now all you need to argue is this:

Can NASA regain its' goal of space exploration rather than space experimentation, or is it best to scrap it and start anew?

[MrFun]

Docfeelgood -- why don't you call the surviving family members of the seven astronauts and tell them that their lives were wasted if you're looking for trolls from other people?

[Docfeelgood]

Docfeelgood -- why don't you call the surviving family members of the seven astronauts and tell them that their lives were wasted if you're looking for trolls from other people?

Would you get pleasure out of this


Don't you think they have been through enough allready?



I truely do feel sorry for you

[chequita guevara]

DP, see below.

[MrFun]

Originally posted by Docfeelgood



Would you get pleasure out of this


Don't you think they have been through enough allready?



I truely do feel sorry for you

It was sarcasm on my part, to show you how inconsiderate you are, and you know it.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Docfeelgood
More words of wisdom?

Yes. You are willfully ignorant, and that's something I can't abide. You ignore everything except that which agrees with you. You've been shown over and over again what the benefits are, and you still ask the same dumb question over and over again.


Ramo, private corporations in other countries were free to persue such technologies. They didn't. There is no reason to believe that short-sighted American corporations would have been any different.

And doesn't Bell Labs get an awful lot of government contracts?

[Velociryx]

Okay Doc....after a breather, I'm ready to continue. So far, you've essentially posed three different-but-related positions:

#1) NASA is a big waste of money

#2) Manned space exploration is a waste of time and money

#3) Is space the playground of the USA, or is it (and the benefits of its exploration) for all of mankind.

****

My responses to these three different-but-related things would be as follows:

1) - NASA may seem like a big waste of money TO YOU, and you are certainly entitled to your opinion. But it is just that....an opinion. The fact is that NASA's dedication to the exploration of space has brought about numerous advances that have saved untold numbers of lives. It has also brought about numerous more "frivilous" advances, but let's focus on the ones that save lives, since you're fond of bringing starving children into the equation.

Among these inventions are:
GPS - As has been pointed out, it's the backbone of our modern military, but lately, civilian applications have become more and more commonplace. There's no telling how many lives this technology has saved us both in the field, and indirectly (rapid location of say....a distressed ship on the high seas may mean the difference between all hands lost and saving the entire crew).

Cell Phones - Yep...even the lowly cell phone (and all its sister technologies) have helped save lives, because it enables far more rapid communication at the scene of accidents (you witness a nasty car wreck, pick up the cell phone rather than frantically searching for a payphone, and voila....you mighta just saved a life! Good job!

Miniturization - Weight constraints are always a problem in space, so the natural trend was toward making things smaller. As has been pointed out, this led to the development of the Personal Computer. PC's help save lives every day, by enabling doctors to store vast amounts of data on their patients, and retrieve that data very quickly. Modern medicine owes much of its technology to the space program, in one form or another. And the proof that it's worth it? People are living longer, healthier lives than ever before.

Biotech - could not have come about if not for the rise of computers (which, in turn, were brought forth, thanks in no small part to the folks of NASA), because decoding the human genome is not something you can do with an abacus. This field is in its earliest stages, and stands poised to change almost everything about medicine as we know it.

So....if you say that NASA's existence is a waste of money, then you must concede that all technologies we enjoy today as a result (direct or indirect) of their research, are also a waste of money.

Personally, I do not believe that anyone who makes use of and enjoys these modern wonders can have that opinion, but...that's your bag.

To the second point....the point about manned exploration of space being pointless, I refer you back to Magellen, Columbus, and their contemporaries.

If manned exploration of space is indeed pointless, then so was manned exploration of the vast oceans. The proper course of action would have been to not tackle these vastly challenging natural wonders until there was some means to do so remotely, and therefore not risk human life in the process....

Want a more modern example? How about the invention of flight? Dreadfully dangerous business with no practical applications as it was being developed....and yet, look at the state of the industry today....people transported to all points of the globe, quickly and safely. Amazing. But of course, in the world according to Doc, they're fools. The proper thing to do would have been to wait until such far fetched notions of flight could have been tested remotely, posing no risk to those first bold pioneers.

And if you believe that, then there's not much of anything that anyone can say to you that'll change your mind, but the simple truth is that we....humanity....is better off for the exploration.

And to the last: Is space the playground of America, or does its exploration stand to benefit all of mankind?

So far as I know, there has been no effort by the United States to discourage any large, industrialized nation from going into space.

They are certainly free to try.

And whomever gets there first, will no doubt, reap the biggest benefits (witness the Spanish in Central America, and their quest for gold).

And like the earlier explorers, the benefits of the knowledge gained....yes, that benefits us all.

Of course, you prolly still don't agree.

-=Vel=-

[Docfeelgood]

You are willfully ignorant, and that's something I can't abide. You ignore everything except that which agrees with you.

Kinda sounds like your describing yourself. eh?


Velociryx

The fact is that NASA's dedication to the exploration of space has brought about numerous advances that have saved untold numbers of lives.

These great inventions could have been invented without the need to give NASA credit.

The fact is that NASA's dedication to the exploration of space has brought about numerous advances that have saved untold numbers of lives.

really? I am a nurse, can you tell me a few of these miracle devices that have saved lives courtacy of NASA?

Would they have been invented ithout NASAS help?

And if you believe that, then there's not much of anything that anyone can say to you that'll change your mind, but the simple truth is that we

Might be able to change my mind if anyone can show that the needs of mankind outweigh manned space exploration.
Also the huge money spent and resoursec used.



Why is everyone so hostile to me because I place mankind over needless wasting of resources that could be better utalized?

sad

[Ming]

Enough with the personal insults... I see some people are JUST ASKING TO BE RESTRICTED.

Stop this crap NOW!

[Velociryx]

Yep...I will grant you that there is a possibility that some, and perhaps even all of these inventions could have come about via other means.

But they did not.

In my post, I already gave some examples of technology that has grown out of our exploration of space that has, in fact, saved lives. Of course, that's not enough, is it?

Again, yes...the possibility exists that this technology could have been invented by others, had NASA not existed....but NASA did and does exist, and their work HAS benefited us all.

But that's still not enough, is it?

I'm not being hostile toward you, I am merely pointing out that the stuff you're hell-bent on belittling and referring to as a waste of time, has, in fact, and continues to be beneficial to us all.

And if NASA had not had a hand in it...what then? I contend that you would be writing these posts, railing against whomever DID help bring these inventions about. Same $hit, different day, as it were.

-=Vel=-

[Sarxis]

I agree that NASA needs more specific goals.

[Velociryx]

To a point, yep...I agree with that...with the proviso that they have a free hand when it comes to further exploration of what they find.

I mean...if their mission is X, and they discover groovy-thing Y that they didn't even know existed while in pursuit of X, then to shackle them too tightly to their mission would be detrimental.

-=Vel=-

[Sarxis]

I guess that's the point: when's the last time they found a groovy-thing Y? I mean, something attainable, not just more pretty pictures of the edge of the universe.