damn space shuttle

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Originally Posted by Yoshi

Then you ruined it with this shit. I'd bet that far less than half the registered Repubicans out there vote that way due to religion. It's a tired, wrong argument.

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I'm sure there are a multitude of different reasons why each party doesn't give a shit about space right now. I'm sorry if me going for the funny ones, and not making a list of real reasons, bothered you.

But you are free to make a counter argument, or fill in the gaps.

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Originally Posted by buttcheeks

I don't know about that, but I do look at NASA and other country's space programs as mankind's art.

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There's every reason to expect the solution to come from NASA. Almost every major technological advancement of the past 40 years has come from NASA. NASA is going to build a self-charging fuel cell small enough and safe enough to power cars and homes and make traditional energy sources like oil obsolete. That's why it needs more funding, not to reaffirm mankind's art. It's that sort of romantic Star Trek blather about mankind's cosmic identity that makes people say "fuck NASA, spend the money on social welfare" in the first place.

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Originally Posted by SpoDaddy

NASA was officially created in 1958, but it had been given it's mandate and began research under the Department of Defense in 1943. It was given the official NASA title in 1958 as a Cold War PR move.

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I think you need to check why I wrote that. ;)

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Originally Posted by Error

"Enterprise was at the Smithsonian's hangar at Washington Dulles International Airport before being moved to the newly-built Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles, where she is the centerpiece of the space collection."

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I forget, did the enterprise ever go into space? I forget which one it was that was used for test and never actually went into space.

If it is the enterprise, then that just won't do. Future generations need to be able to see one that went into space.

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Originally Posted by buttcheeks

But you are free to make a counter argument, or fill in the gaps.

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I already fixed your sentence 8 posts ago. Asking for logic from Yoshi is a recipe for disaster.

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Originally Posted by SpoDaddy

It's that sort of romantic Star Trek blather about mankind's cosmic identity that makes people say "fuck NASA, spend the money on social welfare" in the first place.

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people who say that shit are worthless dogs that don't deserve to live.

Theres nothing wrong with spending money on NASA and social welfare.

Its funny that once again Republicans will blame the imaginary "welfare queens" for siphoning off money from a pet like NASA in a day and age when we are throwing hundreds of billions of dollars in a bottomless hole named Iraq and several hundred billion more committed to crap like Medicare Part D and No Child Left Behind.

Besides that, I dont want NASA to all of the sudden have a budget of $200 billion.
I dont think its the budget either, that forces them to keep using that hunk of shit space shuttle. That submarine I was talking about was designed and built by private companies for something like $5 billion - and it came out on schedule, under budget, and at a much higher level of quality than ever seen before. And it was by far the most advanced sub ever.

I think people have plenty of interest in the space program, as evidence d by the huge popularity of Mars rovers.

I also think SpoDaddy is dead-wrong in thinking that Toyota or other private companies are incapable of coming up with the research he described. I again point to X-Prize and Burt Rutan.

Lets not mythologize NASA. Continued use of the space shuttle is dangerous and puts the astronauts at a needless risk. It's currently influenced by the same Bushite trash that is shitting all over the rest of the government. I had high hopes when Bush talked about a mission to Mars but that was, like so much other things from him, hot air. Hopefully the next President will put it back on track.

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Originally Posted by buttcheeks

Do you remember how much they spent to make the space pen? It was all a waste, because Pencils and crayons will write in zero gs, too.

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Yea I remember, they didn't spend any money on the space pen. That story is bullshit.

http://history.nasa.gov/spacepen.html

Confirmed..
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/613/1

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Originally Posted by diffusionx

Theres nothing wrong with spending money on NASA and social welfare.

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I don't think anyone other than Yoshi is saying otherwise. But I do disagree with the idea that we should just quit funding it because the US has poor people.

because

1) lets be honest here, does anyone really think Bush, or any pres in the past 20 years would take all the money put into NASA into helping people? Honestly, do you think that will happen?

2) I believe in the phrase, "don't put off till tomorrow, what you can do today." I think certain things are true for people are also true for societies. I don't think the US will ever reach a perfect utopia. So I think if we wait until we fix all our problems to put money into space, we will never put any money into space.

3) Maybe the "cure" for all our problems is in space, or we will invent something along the way that will greatly benefit us. It's a reasonable gamble. We've already done amazing things by trying to go into space.

4) Doing something with your life is sometimes more important than staying alive. Going into space is a really big something

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Originally Posted by Valgar

Yea I remember, they didn't spend any money on the space pen. That story is bullshit.

http://history.nasa.gov/spacepen.html

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I wouldn't say complete bullshit. After reading that, I can see how in about 30/40 years, the story has evolved into the one I've heard.