Space Exploration: Who won?

• coyotes22

  

  With the U.S. out, now, does that mean Russia wins?
  
  
  http://news.yahoo.com/astronauts-close-shuttle-doors-last-flight-home-063209748.html
  

  Until space taxis are available, Russia will take on the job of flying crews to the station, at a cost of more than $50 million per person.

• believer

  

  The American taxpayers won.
  
  American space exploration should be privatized. If the Russians are making $50 million per person to send them to the international space station, my guess is sooner or later commercial enterprises might want to tap in on that market.
  
  They'd do it far more efficiently and economically than NASA.
  
  With due respect to NASA I salute the agency for their accomplishments in particular the moon landings and technological offshoots of the space program, but it's time to pass the baton.
• BGFalcons82

  

  Yeah, the Ruskies will win the space war, but we will win the race to reach out for more Muslims to love us.
• believer

  

  BGFalcons82;838682 wrote:Yeah, the Ruskies will win the space war, but we will win the race to reach out for more Muslims to love us.

  True. The Bammer says so:
  
  [video=youtube;tCAffMSWSzY][/video]
• Tobias Fünke

  

  believer;838668 wrote: With due respect to NASA I salute the agency for their accomplishments in particular the moon landings and technological offshoots of the space program, but it's time to pass the baton.

  
  NASA's objective is research, nothing more. I agree that space shuttles can be done more efficiently by corporations (you don't think they'll get the Halliburton treatment though?), but you cannot fully privatize NASA because corporations want profits, not to lose money on D&R. Of course you'd have to accept that the government isn't there to make a profit...
• believer

  

  Tobias Fünke;839039 wrote:NASA's objective is research, nothing more. I agree that space shuttles can be done more efficiently by corporations (you don't think they'll get the Halliburton treatment though?), but you cannot fully privatize NASA because corporations want profits, not to lose money on D&R. Of course you'd have to accept that the government isn't there to make a profit...

  Not suggesting that NASA should simply disappear. I have no issues with NASA sending up relatively inexpensive research satellites, etc.
  
  But as a space taxi service? Not so much.
• I Wear Pants

  The NASA budget is embarrassing. We have no vision anymore.
• Al Bundy

  I Wear Pants;839183 wrote:The NASA budget is embarrassing. We have no vision anymore.

  
  It would be nice to have luxury to spend more on NASA, but we have much more important needs than that.
• THE4RINGZ

  

  Apparently the Massillon City Schools English department didn't win. Nice spelling in the thread title.
• ohiobucks1

  

  Al Bundy;839216 wrote:It would be nice to have luxury to spend more on NASA, but we have much more important needs than that.

  
  Like welfare? oh wait.
• coyotes22

  

  THE4RINGZ;839256 wrote:Apparently the Massillon City Schools English department didn't win. Nice spelling in the thread title.

  
  haha, oops
• tk421

  

  The NASA budget doesn't even make up 1% of the total budget anymore. That this country can't "afford" to give the agency that went to the moon 1 freaking % is bullshit. I'm not saying NASA does everything right, but we spend so much money on shit that doesn't do anything, complete and utter waste, that anyone who says the NASA budget needs to be cut is out of touch.
  
  As for the space station, I believe that SpaceX, an American company by the same guy doing Tesla, has contracts with NASA to send supplies and eventually astronauts to the station at a significant reduced cost.
• coyotes22

  

  I wonder if food stamps and welfare were eliminated, if that would free up a few extra bucks for NASA
• tk421

  

  coyotes22;839305 wrote:I wonder if food stamps and welfare were eliminated, if that would free up a few extra bucks for NASA

  
  We send more money overseas to ensure we are "liked" than we do on space exploration.
• Al Bundy

  tk421;839302 wrote:The NASA budget doesn't even make up 1% of the total budget anymore. That this country can't "afford" to give the agency that went to the moon 1 freaking % is bull****. I'm not saying NASA does everything right, but we spend so much money on **** that doesn't do anything, complete and utter waste, that anyone who says the NASA budget needs to be cut is out of touch.
  
  As for the space station, I believe that SpaceX, an American company by the same guy doing Tesla, has contracts with NASA to send supplies and eventually astronauts to the station at a significant reduced cost.

  So we should waste money on NASA because we waste money on other things?
• believer

  

  Al Bundy;839316 wrote:So we should waste money on NASA because we waste money on other things?

  That apparently is the reasoning.
• gut

  Al Bundy;839316 wrote:So we should waste money on NASA because we waste money on other things?

  
  I don't agree with that line of thinking, either, but at least on NASA we got some decent returns on the investment. That said, we don't need the federal govt to allocate our taxes (and then some) to things that are done far more efficiently and effectively by the capital markets. Maybe when space exploration and other NASA related stuff was in its infancy it made sense to subsidize, but I can agree it's probably time to hand-off that baton.
  
  There's also perhaps a little too much focus on the federal govt when taxes is really an issue for ALL taxes, including state and local (which many are in just as much trouble financially). Some of that is we need to eliminate the redundancies, like education for instance. I'm not saying eliminate the govt from education (although this could probably be debated), but doing a shitty job at both the state and federal level isn't an efficient or effective way to go about it.
  
  It's one thing when the govt uses the tax code to subsidize or incentivize certain business sectors or areas of the economy (and despite what some may say, there's some good work that has been done there)....It's quite another when the govt decides to throw its own hat into the ring and run a "business" that would quickly be shuttered by any company run halfway well.
• tk421

  

  What exactly does NASA do that is such a waste? Enlighten me, please.
• Al Bundy

  tk421;839327 wrote:What exactly does NASA do that is such a waste? Enlighten me, please.

  
  The Mars rover was pretty much a waste. Unless you like billion dollar cool pics.
• gut

  tk421;839327 wrote:What exactly does NASA do that is such a waste? Enlighten me, please.

  
  Can you instead provide the returns on those investments? Does it turn a profit? Or is it wrong to define "waste" as anything that loses money? That's different from things like defense and roads that may not generate revenue but are a necessary social expense.
• gut

  Maybe because of NASA Obama knows the alien invasion is imminent and that's why he doesn't care about how much the govt spends.
• believer

  

  tk421;839327 wrote:What exactly does NASA do that is such a waste? Enlighten me, please.

  NASA put humans on the moon, launched communications & weather satellites in orbit, developed technologies that we now use on a daily basis, etc., etc.
  
  What's a waste is that like any other federal agency NASA's expenditures almost always far exceed budget and like any other government agency it is prone to the whims of politicians and bureaucrats beholden to politicians.
  
  There's no getting around it.
• coyotes22

  

  gut;839331 wrote:Can you instead provide the returns on those investments? Does it turn a profit? Or is it wrong to define "waste" as anything that loses money? That's different from things like defense and roads that may not generate revenue but are a necessary social expense.

  
  which is why the post office should be privatized as well, but the libs bitch about that, whenever a GOP mentions it. o, thats right, its a union job.
  
  but, now it is ok to privatize nasa? im confused.
• believer

  

  coyotes22;839344 wrote:which is why the post office should be privatized as well, but the libs bitch about that, whenever a GOP mentions it. o, thats right, its a union job.
  
  but, now it is ok to privatize nasa? im confused.

  The PO needs privatized too. Better yet farm it out to FedEx, UPS, etc.
• Little Danny

  

  The Klingons won.