NASA

[krampus]

"The Obama administration’s new budget may come in at a hulking $3.8 trillion, but one thing it doesn’t include is continued funding for the Constellation program."

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80bea ... aceflight/

turning space flight over to the private industry, is this a good thing? Can it really create more jobs than will be lost from NASA?

[toad857]

good or bad, who knows.... but private space flight is already here. your travel agent can hook you up. besides, the last president was the one to initiate those obnoxious and really wasteful missions, including sending men to the moon and to mars to do robot's work.

[TradMike]

Bad news for a possible energy source for the future

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/h ... 00630.html

[Xtant]

Well, there's a billionaire with more money than he knows what to do with so, of course he wanted to invest in space travel. Now he's investing in submarine travel. He enjoys novel ways of spending his money. There's only so much enjoyment you get from midget hookers, giraffes, and vaseline covered ladders.

That being said, I don't see the private industry really doing groundbreaking work in the area. Virgin is what I see as an exception. Richard Branson can and has single-handedly financed space travel and will continue to do so until he gets bored with it. Aside from him, it becomes more difficult.

People of vision would have to find countless financial backers just to see if they can get off the ground. And then what is the motivation? Turning a profit? In 30 years?

Maybe I'm looking at it wrong, though. I just don't see private industry dumping that kind of money into space and unforseen innovations that might bring profit someday.

I do not agree with cutting funding. The benefits of space travel and, more importantly, the technology that comes from the research. Without it, you would be lacing those climbing shoes instead of adjusting the velcro straps.

I believe this is just more short-sightedness from an inexperienced junior career politician who has spent more time and effort campaigning and jockeying for that next position than actually developing an understanding of the world he aspired to lead...

[kato]

turning space flight over to the private industry, is this a good thing? Can it really create more jobs than will be lost from NASA?

NASA is a small player in the industry. They have about 19,000 employees. The number of private contractors they employ is many times greater than even their own employees. The big players are private industry and each of them have on the order of 10 times that many employees. Now most of these big companies are into other businesses besides space flight, but space flight has always been largely done by private hands, although paid for by the government.

[schwagpad]

I was happy when obama decided to cut the manned space program. It seems like the primary successes of the manned missions have been political. Most of the interesting earth and space science has come from cheaper unmanned missions.

[ahab]

the US gov doesn't need NASA, just someone like this...



save em tons of money.

dhuff, where u at?

[kato]

Tethys over the rings of Saturn...


"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tanhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die."

[kato]

Be patient until the 2:00 minute mark:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsDEfu8s ... r_embedded