Space Exploration

[Grand58742]

I've seen different sides of this on several sites, threads and posts on here. Some think it's a worthy goal, others think it's a waste of money that could be better spent on more earthly projects.

How does M4C feel about the budgets for NASA as well as the goals in our space programs?

NASA budget typically runs $17-18 Billion and change.

Budget of NASA - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[lunchbox]

Cut other budgets to supplement NASA's. Start with the NSA or a couple others that quickly come to mind.

[SilverBullet432]

Im still pissed that they cut constellation and the shuttle retirement. I am anxious to see Orion and the SLS fly though!

[Moose-Knuckle]

LBJ's War on Poverty and the free shit army ruined our once great space program.

I'm all for space exploration and truly feel it's our species future since every habitable planet has an expiration date. However, we have much bigger problems going on in the world right now that we should be focused on.

[fixit69]

We need more intel. So, more exploration is needed. But on a global scale, we can't foot the bill for everything needed.

[moonshot]

My login should pretty well indicate my feelings. The future of mankind lies out there. To survive as a species, we need to explore the universe, to understand how it operates, to colonize other worlds. To do less is to waste the gift.

[Grand58742]

We need more intel. So, more exploration is needed. But on a global scale, we can't foot the bill for everything needed.

Which does bring up a valid tangent to the original questions.

Can the private sector explore space cheaper and more efficiently than the government? Companies like Space-X, Bigelow Aerospace, Virgin Galactic, XCOR et al are all starting to move forward into the commercialization of space. Is the next logical step for them to start pushing the boundaries past where governments only previously had reign?

[Belmont31R]

NASA is one program I agree with. Their work benefits everyone. You can even make a case for national security since asteroid impacts have occurred on earth and will happen again. Relying on the private sector in that area isn't really an option although I do also support groups like Space X having a role, too. NASA has really gone downhill in the last decade as far as mission and capability. JPL is doing great stuff with Curiosity and other such projects.

I don't really have a problem with the gov spending money on science or research that does or can alter the lives of millions or the entire planet in a positive manner. We just need to have proper oversight so these organizations don't become political. I think NASA has tilted that way a bit of late with the Muslim outreach and GW stuff. Stick to science and not appeasing political leaders.

[TehLlama]

I don't really have a problem with the gov spending money on science or research that does or can alter the lives of millions or the entire planet in a positive manner. We just need to have proper oversight so these organizations don't become political. I think NASA has tilted that way a bit of late with the Muslim outreach and GW stuff. Stick to science and not appeasing political leaders.

When there isn't enough money to go and do the actual mission in what amounts to an equipment sport of gargantuan proportions, the end result is always going to be some mickey mouse crap like that.
What's hard not to be outright depressed about for somebody like me (massive space exploration enthusiast, high intellect engineering mind and willingness to commit to large high stress projects, but physically incapable of being an astronaut) is that I won't see the opportunity to be part of a mission control or ground support apparatus that exemplified the truly great things about the NASA organization of the 60's... it's emotionally rough watching documentaries about the proper space age, and despite having seen and even touched in person hardware flown early as part of the ISS and met and talked with half a dozen astronauts when I was younger that I will never be afforded the opportunity to work on something of that scale, and infuriating that the funds that could otherwise go towards that are being wasted on politically expedient wealth redistribution.

[montanadave]

Imagine what might have been accomplished had even one of the several trillions of dollars we've pissed away trying to democratize Middle Eastern shitholes been spent on space research and exploration. I'm not trying to crap on our armed forces. They've served valiantly. My bitch is with the ignorant and feckless policy makers that commit to such ill-fated quixotic debacles and the incestuous relationship between our military command and the defense contractors that feed off of them. Rant off.

I've said it before so I won't repeat the whole spiel. The Mercury-Gemini-Apollo programs were a great source of national pride. It was an endeavor that pulled people together, as opposed to tearing them apart. Perhaps this country is incapable of embracing such a shared vision again and the only thing we can all rally around, at least during halftime at the Super Bowl, is blowing some cesspool off the map with a little shock and awe while we listen to a Lee Greenwood belt out "Proud to be an American."

I'd like to think we're better than that and capable of doing a whole lot more with the human and natural resources we have available to us.